Korth a mathematics leader statewide
By Scott Bellile
Lincoln Elementary School first-grade teacher Alicia Korth is one of four Wisconsin educators in the running for the 2018 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
The PAEMST is the U.S. government’s highest honor awarded to math and science teachers. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction announced the finalists on Aug. 28.
This year’s Presidential Awards recognize teachers of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science – familiarly known as STEM – for grades kindergarten through six.
PAEMST winners demonstrate they are leaders in the STEM field who have developed and implemented high-quality instructional programs in their classrooms.
They are judged on criteria such as their mastery of their content, their instructional methods and strategies, their use of student assessments to evaluate and improve learning, their practices of reflection and life-long learning, and their leadership in education outside the classroom.
Korth has been in education for 11 years and a teacher at Lincoln Elementary since 2013. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a mathematics minor from St. Norbert College, and a master’s in education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Korth said she applied for the PAEMST over the spring, not expecting to be a finalist.
She downplays the honor, saying the work she does is what any educator who cares about children would do.
“I don’t feel like I really teach out of the ordinary,” Korth said. “For me, I just make sure it’s not just me being the teacher, [that] it really comes down to the students taking the skills and the knowledge that they have and maybe applying it to the new skills that I’m teaching.”
“Alicia is obviously very humble about that award, but she’s certainly deserving of it,” Lincoln Elementary Principal Kirk Delwiche said. “She works hard every day to engage students and help them not only in math but every subject. As an educator, that’s her world, that’s what she does and she does it well.”
Her first-grade students learn topics such as addition, subtraction, place values and introductory algebra by engaging in regular partner and small-group work, real-life word problem scenarios, and “rich conversation” about how they got the answers they did.
Korth said there is not just one way to solve a problem, and her students often impress her with the other ways they reach their solutions.
“I could be having a student explain a problem and how they solved it, and I will even have to be like, ‘How did you get that? Could you come [up to the board] and show all of us?’” Korth said.
Korth likes to recognize students for their critical-thinking skills. She might announce to the class that she is naming a solution after the student who came up with it, such as “Johnny’s Way,” to let the children take ownership in their problem-solving.
Math actually did not come to Korth easily growing up. It was asking teachers for one-on-one help before and after class in middle and high school that developed Korth into a stronger mathematician and helped her pursue a minor in college.
Korth continues to learn more herself because if she loses the drive to expand her mind, then she doubts she could still inspire her students.
She uses what she learns to give back to educators and help improve math for students statewide. Outside the classroom, her involvement includes:
• Serving as a K-2 facilitator for summer teacher training through the Mathematics Institute of Wisconsin.
• Presenting at conferences.
• Working with the DPI to help develop standards to ensure state mathematics instruction meets the needs of students of all races, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Serving on the Wisconsin Mathematics Council Board from 2015 until this year. She stepped down to spend more time with her family.
“She’s a real leader in helping our folks understand … some of the foundational pieces that help students become engaged and want to learn math,” Delwiche said of Korth.
Korth lives in Bear Creek and is married to her husband, Scott. Her three boys all attend St. Martin Lutheran School in Clintonville. When Korth is not attending her boys’ youth sporting events or St. Martin PTO meetings, she enjoys traveling, camping and reading.
A panel organized by the National Science Foundation will judge PAEMST applications. The panel may select up to one math teacher and one science teacher per state to receive the award.
PAEMST winners will receive national recognition, professional development opportunities and a $10,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
Other finalists representing Wisconsin are Michelle Butturini, Reedsville Elementary/Middle School; Michelle Howe, Lodi Middle School; and Rebecca Saeman, Sauk Trail Elementary School, Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District.