SERMACS 2009 Regional Awards

Ms. Sondra Wieland is this year’s recipient of the ACS Division of Chemical Education Southeastern Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching. Ms. Wieland has taught chemistry at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, South Carolina for the past thirteen years and has served as Heathwood’s science department chair for the past eleven years. She is an affiliate member of the South Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, and has been active in a number of other professional organizations including the South Carolina Association of Chemistry Teachers (SCACT) and the South Carolina Academy of Science. At the heart of her teaching philosophy lies the belief that “students should be involved in their own learning through meaningful investigations, demonstrations, problem solving, and trial and error=2 0inquiry.” In other words, Ms. Wieland strongly believes that effective teaching occurs, not through dictation, but by providing students with the means to discover scientific principles through their own experiences. Sondra’s service and excellence in teaching has been recognized on a number of occasions. Some of her most notable honors include recognition as Chemistry Teacher of the Year by the Carolina-Piedmont local section of the ACS in 1990 and again by the South Carolina section in 1998. She has also been recognized as the State of South Carolina Science Teacher of the Year by the South Carolina Academy of Science in 1991 and by the South Carolina Association of Chemistry Teachers in 1997 and received the Governor's Award for Science Awareness in 2009. Sondra has also twice earned recognition as a State of South Carolina NSF Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Science Teaching in 1999 and 2000. Additionally, for her sustained support of NCW, Ms. Wieland has received the American Chemical Society’s Salute to Excellence (2004) and was twice recognized by the ACS for distinguished service to the South Carolina local section (1996 & 2007). Sondra Wieland is truly an outstanding instructor of chemistry and deserves our enthusiastic congratulations for her accomplishments.