STAT mourns the loss and honors the legacy of Virginia Elizabeth Sturdivant Woods, who passed away peacefully on June 7, 2025, at the age of 97.

Throughout her career, Virginia served Texas students and educators in countless ways. She taught high school chemistry, physics, and biology in Clarksville, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, and Austin; served as a chemistry instructor at Dallas Baptist College; and was science coordinator for Round Rock ISD for 7 years. She then served as Executive Secretary of STAT for 15 years, guiding the organization through years of growth and transition before retiring to care for her sister.

National Teacher Appreciation Week may only last seven days, but the impact you have guiding the next class of discoverers lasts lifetimes. To celebrate the many ways you inspire discovery of the world through science, STAT is offering a special CAST25 Teacher Appreciation Pre-Sale—your chance to register at the lowest rate of the year. 

Now through Saturday, May 31, you can register for the 2025 Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), presented by STAT, November 13–15 in Dallas, for just $245. Register now and save!

Congratulations to the newly elected 2025–2026 STAT Executive Board members. These leaders will join continuing 2025–2026 Executive Board members in service to STAT beginning June 1, 2025.

• President-Elect: Dennis Johnson
• Treasurer: Chris Carrell
• Board Member: Gregory Drew
• Board Member: Natasha Garza

The Executive Board is STAT's governing body that sets policy and makes decisions on behalf of the membership by providing general oversight over STAT's activities. The officers and at-large board members are voting members of the Board.

The Call for Proposals for the 2025 Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), presented by the Science Teachers Association of Texas, is now open! Submit your session proposal by May 31 to share your expertise at CAST25, this November 13–15 in San Antonio.

As one of the premier science education events in the country, CAST traditionally features hundreds of breakout sessions presented by educators like YOU who generously share their best strategies for inspiring discovery of the world through science. STAT invites you to turn your innovative teaching strategies and lesson plans into proposals for sessions that could benefit educators and students across Texas and beyond. 

The STAT Executive Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Devorah Jakubowsky, CAE, as the new STAT Executive Director, continuing our successful partnership with Strategic Association Management (SAM). 

With more than 2 decades of experience in association management and having served as the STAT Deputy Director for the past year, Devorah brings a wealth of expertise to her new role. Her exceptional leadership within STAT, coupled with her deep understanding of the organization's mission, vision, and values, marks an exciting chapter for both STAT and the Texas science education community. As Executive Director, Jakubowsky will guide the strategic direction of the organization in close collaboration with the STAT Executive Board, ensuring continued success.

STAT is thrilled to announce Kiki Corry, STAT 2023–2024 Past President, was named the 2023 Children in Nature Individual Legacy Champion! The Texas Children in Nature Children in Nature Champion Awards recognize individuals, like Kiki, who have had a significant impact in Texas in improving children’s connection with and access to nature.

Congratulations, Kiki! 

The State Board of Education (SBOE) is set to approve instructional materials and resources to support the new science TEKS this week. The Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) leadership is concerned about the SBOE actions taken earlier this week that preliminarily rejected many instructional materials and resources that were reviewed and vetted by both by the TEA process and the Texas Resource Review (TRR). Rejection of these vetted items could make it difficult to for Texas schools, teachers, and students to meet the learning objectives in the new TEKS.

Prior to the final vote, scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Friday morning, STAT is asking the SBOE to consider the following points:

H-E-B announced statewide award recipients of the 21st annual H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards on Sunday, April 30. Recipients included Katie Doyle, Oceans Program teacher at Flour Bluff Intermediate School, who was named the STAT 2022 Outstanding Elementary Science Teacher of the Year this past fall. Doyle was recognized in H-E-B's Rising Star Category, which honors recipients with a $5,000 check for themselves and a $5,000 grant for their school. 

In total, $430,000 in cash awards and grants were awarded to eight educators, two school districts, one early childhood school and a public-school board for being among the best in Texas.

STAT is proud to congratulate the excellent Texas educators recognized by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) as recipients of its 2023 NSTA Awards program. In fact, STAT is thrilled to share that George Hademenos, 2016–2017 STAT President and physics teacher in Richardson ISD, has been named recipient of the 2023 NSTA/Northrup Grumman Excellence in Engineering Education Award. 

Additional Texas educators recognized include recipients of the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge:

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) is announcing today that the in-person Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), that was scheduled to take place November 5-7, 2020, in Houston has been cancelled. Instead, STAT will deliver CAST 2020 as a virtual experience to be held over the same dates.

This was not an easy decision, but as an organization dedicated to advancing science teaching and learning, STAT leadership carefully considered all scenarios, data from scientists and guidance from public health officials. Ultimately, the significant challenges presented by COVID-19 and the health and safety risk to our attendees, exhibitors, speakers, volunteers and staff led all parties to conclude that it is impossible and irresponsible to hold our event as scheduled, so cancelling the in-person conference was the only responsible action.

With a backdrop of continued protests against systemic racism and social inequity, the Science Teachers Association of Texas grieves the continued injustices against people of color and the senseless loss of life. 

At this critical time, our association, representing more than 5,000 science educators of every background, is reflecting on how we can promote equity within science education while bringing more diverse voices into the conversation.

With CAST 2020 scheduled for November, we are currently moving forward with our regular timelines, planning, and preparations. STAT leadership is diligently monitoring the situation as it unfolds and will adjust and communicate changes as necessary.

We plan to host an incredible event as we return to Houston, but the safety of our attendees, exhibitors, volunteers, and staff will always be paramount.

STAT is thrilled to report a major success in the Texas science community, which is directly the result of efforts by STAT, the Texas Science Education Leadership Association (TSELA), and the Metroplex Area Science Supervisors (MASS). At the January 31 State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting, the board provided guidance to TEA staff and the science TEKS review work groups as they began work on recommendations to revise the science TEKS. Staff was instructed to provide the science work groups with A Framework for K-12 Science Education to be used as a resource to inform recommendations for revisions to the science TEKS.  

This is an exciting step in a positive direction. STAT would like to thank the SBOE for their support of great science teaching and learning and their willingness to engage with stakeholders who collectively brought this forward for consideration.

Each year, STAT proudly recognizes excellence in dedication to science education through our annual award programs. The STAT Awards Committee is honored to announce the following educators as STAT's 2019 Statewide Award recipients.

Outstanding Science Educator of the Year Awards

The STAT Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year Awards recognize excellence in science teaching. The awards are presented to STAT members in the following categories:

The Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) applauds the April 3 passage of House Bill 3 by the Texas House of Representatives on a 148-1 vote. HB 3 represents a significant investment in public education and would pump $6.3 billion of new funding into Texas public schools. The bill would also dedicate $2.7 billion to property tax compression.

The Call for Proposals for CAST 2019 presented by the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) will open in early April.

Each year, more than 5,000 educators and science advocates gather for the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching, aka CAST, one of the nation’s premier science education conferences. CAST 2019 will take place Nov. 21–23 in at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

STAT is first and foremost a community—a community of more than 6,000 educators and science advocates dedicated to inspiring discovery of the world through science. The work STAT members like you do every day in Texas classrooms makes the world a better place.

The Report of 2018 NSSME+ details the results of a nationally representative survey of 7,600 science, mathematics, and computer science teachers in schools across the United States. Areas addressed include: teacher backgrounds and beliefs; science, mathematics, and computer science professional development; science, mathematics, and computer science courses; instructional objectives and activities; instructional resources; and factors affecting instruction. Click here to access the full report.

Here are just a few data points from the report:

Congratulations to These Outstanding Educators!

The Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) is proud to recognize excellence in and dedication to the field of science education through its annual awards program. The STAT Awards Committee is honored to announce the following educators as STAT's 2018 Statewide Award recipients. Join us to recognize them Thursday, November 1, during the general session at the 2018 Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching.

Outstanding Science Educator of the Year Awards

The STAT Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year Awards recognize excellence in science teaching. The awards are presented to STAT members in the following categories: