Penn Manor High School science teacher Barney Peace has been named the 2024-2025 Secondary Science Teacher of the Year by Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 and the Lancaster County STEM Alliance.
The award is based on a teacher’s instructional excellence; integration of math, science, and engineering practices; real-world connections; technology integration; hands-on learning; and overall teaching impact.
Peace, who joined the Penn Manor staff in 2022, was nominated for the award by Jenna Fisher, an assistant principal at the high school. Nominees are evaluated anonymously, and one secondary and one elementary teacher are selected each year.
“I am extremely honored and humbled by this award,” Peace said. “I feel that Penn Manor has so much talent that any of our STEM teachers would stand out.”
Peace teaches college prep, honors and AP physics courses, and oversees the annual Cardboard Regatta, where science students are challenged to build boats entirely from cardboard and duct tape to see how long they remain afloat.
The event, held at the Millersville University swimming pool twice a year, has grown to include more than 300 students.
In nominating Peace for the award, Fisher cited the project as an example of how he emphasizes hands-on learning.
“Students need to calculate the weight of the individuals who will be riding in their boat, along with the type of cardboard used in construction and the buoyancy needed to get across the pool without sinking,” she said.
“Mr. Peace is constantly using our collaboration spaces for lessons that enable students to apply what was learned in the classroom.”
Peace will be honored May 5 at the STEM Awards Banquet at the Lancaster Science Factory.
We congratulate him on this well-deserved honor!
