Fellow Profiles

Biography

Melvina Jones is a science resource teacher from John Burroughs Elementary School in Washington, DC. Mel Jones has been teaching elementary school in the DC public school system for ten years and is also an adjunct professor at American University where she instructs future teachers on elementary science education. She has twice interned at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where she developed curriculum in solar science and climate change. Her work at the Center earned a one-week field trip for 30 of her students; they learned about rockets, liquid nitrogen, binary numbers and more. Not to leave out the rest of her school community, when she and her students returned from their trip, they planned and held a Family Science Night.

"I am truly honored and grateful to be awarded the privilege of becoming an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow," Ms. Jones said. "I look forward to working with national policymakers and improving communication between the K-12 education community and national leaders."

Mel Jones has won numerous awards for her teaching, including the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2004. Also in 2004, she was an "honored educator guest" audience member at a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show.