Carl Laterza, a ninth grade Earth Science teacher at Division Avenue High School has been selected for a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Only one teacher in each state is selected for this honor. According to the letter informing Laterza of the award the selection is based on his "extraordinary accomplishments in the classroom as a teacher" and that his teaching "exemplifies the excellence this program is designed to encourage." Laterza has been invited to join his fellow awardees for several days of activities in Washington DC, in June.

Laterza has been a teacher for 28 years and the past eight of those years he has spent in Levittown. His name was put into consideration for this award when his principal, John Allen nominated him last year. From there Laterza had to submit what he considers a breakdown of the things that he has been involved in for the last 10 years. He had to send in a sample lesson, a sample curriculum, how he would approach various things, pictures of his classroom, and pictures of the projects that he has done. He says "It was a very elaborate thing." He also had to submit six or seven pages of his philosophy of teaching and what constitutes good teaching. References were also needed and he got those from Allen; his assistant principal, Ron Zoia, who has since retired; and Dr. Monica Mazurek from the National Science Foundation.

Last May Laterza won the New York State Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Science. Three teachers from New York won that and then all three were given a presentation from the STANYS, which is the Science Teachers Association of New York State. From there, the credentials of the three state winners were sent out to the White House, where President Clinton, along with the National Science Foundation, decided which of the three would win the National Presidential Award.

While he has received other awards Laterza says that nothing can compare to this. He adds "This is the highest award that a teacher can ever win. It is like the Congressional Medal of Honor." Laterza has also won the Tandy Champion of the Classroom Award, which is an award for science teachers. Although these awards are important to Laterza, he says "What is even more important to me are yearbook dedications, in '77, '85, and '95. Those were very important to me because they came from the kids."

Laterza feels as though this is more of a school accomplishment than an award for him. He believes that this award reflects the kids that he teaches, the environment that he teaches in, and the people that he works with. He describes the work environment as being a very positive one, where he is allowed to take chances and if they work out it is great for everybody, but if it doesn't work out then nobody is angry. He adds that "I work with some of the all-time best people that you can work with." He says that he is very grateful to be able to work with the other Earth Science teacher, Vinnie Filigenzi, because they are able sit down together and bounce ideas off each other. He says that "This really isn't an award for me, I'm the one getting the award, but I really think that it is just reflective of the total environment."

Laterza says that he is thrilled to get this award. He adds that this award is "the result of the support that my wife and two boys give me. It's an award that represents my family." He explains that his family is very supportive when he investigates or tries new projects. He is thrilled, not just for himself and his family, but for the whole staff of Division Avenue High School. He stresses that "you can go down the hall and you can go into virtually any classroom and the person in that class deserves the award as much as I did. I just got lucky."