Photo courtesy Bryan Rosenstiel.
Mountain Brook High School educator Bryan Rosenstiel was recently named one of five Alabama teachers who are finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching — the nation’s highest honor for K-12 mathematics and science teachers.
Bryan Rosenstiel, a science teacher at Mountain Brook High School, is in his 20th year as an educator and his fifth at MBHS.
But he still enjoys the positive impact he can have on students through the subject matter he loves.
“When you see a kid grasp a concept or think in a critical way that they never thought of before or find a novel way to approach a problem, it is very uplifting,” he said.
Science opens up broad, new vistas for students, according to Rosenstiel.
“Science is about discovery and understanding the world in which we live,” he said.
For this passion, Rosenstiel recently received some recognition. In September, he was named one of five Alabama teachers who are finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching — the nation’s highest honor for K-12 mathematics and science teachers.
The Presidential Awards, administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, were created in 1983. More than 4,300 teachers have been recognized.
Rosenstiel and Pamela Harman of Spain Park High School in Hoover were the two science finalists in the state.
Rosenstiel and the other Presidential Finalists from the state were honored by the Alabama State Board of Education during an awards luncheon held at the Capital City Club in Montgomery on Oct. 11.
At the event, each finalist received the NSF Certificate of Honor in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
The luncheon was hosted by the Alabama State Department of Education, the NSF and other organizations.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Rosenstiel attended elementary and high school in Mobile. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama and a law degree from the University of Memphis.
He found his path to an education career when he represented a teacher in a legal dispute and learned — from his client and others — there was a critical shortage of math and science instructors and that he didn’t necessarily need a teaching certificate to get a job.
Before coming to MBHS, he taught subjects such as math, science and engineering at Hoover High School and in the Jefferson County School System.
He was nominated for the Presidential Awards by MBHS Principal Philip Holley, who taught science before becoming an administrator.
“It was an honor to even be thought of in the same category as some of the famed science teaching professionals who have gone before me,” Rosenstiel said.
Being nominated is “humbling,” he said. “But I think it shows that hard work pays off sometimes in the form of recognition.”
The study of science and mathematics — Rosenstiel calls math “the language of science” — is critical for students, he said, at least in part because a scientific approach is “important in problem solving in general.”
Science is a means of “understanding the world in which we work and being able to speak the language to science to solve the problems of the world,” he said.
Students benefit from studying science, even if it’s not part of their career, according to Rosenstiel.
“Even if they are going into art, they learn to think critically and pay attention to detail and be able to be a problem solver,” he said.
The STEM disciplines will continue to be important, according to Rosenstiel.
“With the world becoming more of a technical place to exist, the more hard technical knowledge you have, the better a position you are in to contribute and be successful,” he said.
