Kristen Koeblin of the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s Education Department received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Community Service in Education from the San Diego Science Educator Association (SDSEA) on June 1, 2016.

Koeblin was nominated for the award by Martin Teachworth, who teaches science at La Jolla High School and has participated in the museum’s educational programming for several years. Mr. Teachworth commended the Education Department’s dedication to STEM outreach to San Diego students, particularly through multiple scholarships awarded in June and science and engineering competitions.

Koeblin, who manages the museum’s “Fly Your Ride” engineering competition, was on hand to receive the award and applauded San Diego’s science teachers.

“You are the ones who believe the best way to teach Newton’s Laws of Motion is to have your students launch aqua rockets with us,” said Koeblin. “You believe that the best way to teach engineering is to have your students build flying cars for the only flying car competition in the country. Thank you for your creativity and dedication, and thank you for helping us fulfill our mission to educate and inspire.”

“We are proud of Kristen and know her to be a very worthy recipient of this award,” added Francis French, the Museum’s Director of Education. “Kristen is a leader on our education team when it comes to making science and engineering experiences more hands-on, educational, exciting and relevant for audiences of all ages. It’s wonderful that this has been recognized by the wider educational community with this award.”

SDSEA has been active in San Diego for 30 years and is affiliated with the California Science Teachers Association and the National Science Teachers Association. They recognize professionalism and excellence in science education every year for elementary, middle school, and high school teachers; community service in science education at universities and informal science institutions; and science fair winners who use simple materials.