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Debra Brice is a certified bilingual science teacher at San Marcos Middle School near San Diego, California, where she currently instructs 229 students in physics, chemistry, and atmospheric science. San Marcos Middle School is a Title 1 school serving a predominantly Hispanic population from economically disadvantaged areas of north San Diego county. The school does not have resources to provide its students with unique opportunities for learning. |
| On February 23, 2004, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) honored Mrs. Brice at a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill for her exemplary science teaching. The NOAA Teacher at Sea program, for which Debra was honored for her participation in November 2002, is one of the many exceptional science education programs that she has brought to the students of San Marcos Middle School and students throughout San Diego county. |  |
Mrs. Brice has worked with the San Diego Science Alliance, a non-profit consortium of leaders from business, K-12 education, higher education, and scientific institutions committed to enhancing science literacy in K-12 education with innovative programs and resources. She is on the Board of the San Diego Science Educators Association, a professional association dedicated to improving and promoting science education as affiliates of the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Through affiliations such a these, Mrs. Brice has provided her students with unique science programs involving scientists at General Atomics, Delco, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Sea World, the National Weather Service, San Diego Natural History Museum, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Salk Institute. As a result of her outstanding commitment to science education, on March 12, 2004, Mrs. Brice received the San Diego Science Alliance Partnership Award for Outstanding Science Teaching. |
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On February 19, 2004, Mrs. Brice received a $10,000 Toyota Tapestry Award to produce "In the Footsteps of Roger Revelle: Seagoing Physical Science for Middle School", an innovative education program that Mrs. Brice designed to utilize high-technology audio and visual imagery tools located on research vessels at sea to bring physical oceanography, in real-time, to her students. On October 9, 2004 Mrs. Brice was selected as a San Diego County Teacher of the year and was a semi-finalist for the State of California Teacher of the Year award in January 2005. |
In January and February 2005, Mrs. Brice returned as a teacher-at-sea to a research cruise from Papeete, Tahiti to 62° south near the continent of Antarctica. She communicated with her students by email and satellite broadcasts as their lessons followed buoy deployment and water-sampling research being conducted aboard the ship R/V Roger Revelle. Her last broadcast from sea to her classroom was attended by local news reporters; California State Superintendent of Schools, Jack O'Connell, who described her as "one of the best [teachers] in the state"; and Dr. Robert Knox, the Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography (which operates the Revelle). For a detailed account of the cruise click here and see the Research Cruises page. |
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