LANCASTER, Pa. — The POGIL Project has named the 2023 winners of its POGIL Early Achievement (PEACH) Award – Courtney Macdonald (South Amboy, N.J), and Joan Roque (Cayey, Puerto Rico).
The award, given annually to one post-secondary and one secondary winner, honors POGIL practitioners who are new to The Project, who have distinguished themselves by advancing the goals of The Project, and who have an exceptional level of enthusiasm for active learning. Other criteria include leadership in The Project, active participation in disseminating the POGIL pedagogy, and other service to The Project, such as workshop facilitation, authorship of activities, and participation in grant proposals.
Macdonald and Roque will be honored at The POGIL Project's upcoming National Meeting in St. Louis in June 2023. Each will be presented with a plaque and a cash award.
"We are thrilled to honor these two outstanding members of the POGIL community with the POGIL Early Achievement Award," said Project Executive Director Rick Moog. "Both Courtney and Joan have made a big impact on The Project and have been instrumental in our growth and success in the past several years."
In July of 2018, Courtney Macdonald attended a three-day POGIL workshop and enthusiastically joined the POGIL community. She introduced POGIL activities to her Honors Chemistry classes at Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies that following school year. Wanting to learn more, she attended the 2019 National Conference to Advance POGIL Practice and met other POGIL enthusiasts. Macdonald then attended the POGIL facilitator training workshop in January 2020.
When the COVID pandemic forced educators to work from home, Macdonald ramped up her activity with The Project by volunteering her time to the Project’s Networks and Video working groups. She continues to be an active member of the latter and has also joined the High School Activity Revisions team, which is tasked with updating The Project’s secondary curricular offerings. She has also been a facilitator for virtual POGIL workshops since the early days of the pandemic and continues to lead virtual sessions throughout the year.
Courtney stepped away from teaching in 2020 and now works at Costco. Her previous work experience has included working as a chemical engineer, high school teacher, and patent litigator. She earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a J.D from The George Washington University Law School. Courtney lives in NJ with her two “lost” cats, Hurley and Sawyer, crochets way too much, and loves to bake.
“ I am honored to win the award —being recognized by people who I truly admire is overwhelming,” said Macdonald.
Dr. Joan Evaliz Roque Peña is currently an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. She earned her B.S. in chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at North Carolina State University, and is currently finishing up an M.Ed. in adult education at Westminster College. Her research interests center on organometallic chemistry, catalysis, and education.
Roque first learned about POGIL in 2017 and, thanks to The POGIL Project, she has grown passionate about active learning and guiding her students to construct her own learning. She is also dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) so that she can create engaging classroom environments where students feel like they belong.
After joining The Project, Roque became actively involved in DEIJ efforts to increase the diversity of educators who utilize POGIL practices in their classrooms. In her free time, Dr. Roque enjoys spending time with her family after returning home to Puerto Rico from her 12-year-long stay in Mainland US. Additionally, she enjoys reading manga, watching TV, and baking.
"Since I learned about the Peach Award, I thought about how exciting it must be to be recognized by The POGIL Community,” said Roque, “so this is like a dream come true.”
