Jill Gilford- 2019 Alan Shepard Technology in Education Recipient

Jill Gilford, an Earth and Space Science Teacher at Twin Lakes High School in Monticello, Ind., was selected to receive the 2019 Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award.

In 2015, Gilford started a program at her school called Science Buddies, a peer mentoring program that trains high school students to present science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities to elementary students. The activities focus on collaboration, organizational skills, problem solving and design process, with substantially increased engagement for students of all ages and abilities. The program also uses video conferencing to enable students to virtually travel to classrooms around the world, such as in Georgia, Australia, Italy and the Ukraine. Science Buddies has now grown to 6 partnerships between high school and elementary classrooms, and with continued expansion will positively impact hundreds of students along the way.

Gilford has won a number of teaching awards, including the 2017 Twin Lakes School Corporation District Teacher of the Year, and she was an Indiana Teacher of the Year top finalist in 2017.