The National Center for Science Education has announced the winners of its second-annual Grand Canyon Teacher Scholarship.

The annual scholarship provides winning teachers with an expense-paid trip to the Grand Canyon to receive the best kind of professional development available.

Winners Brandon Haught and Crystal Davis will spend eight days with NCSE members and staff to "explore geological processes up close, place their hands on rock layers laid down before the first multi-cellular fossils, and see how plate tectonics, erosion, volcanoes, wind, and waves built up and carved down the landscape,” said NCSE guide and geologist Steve Newton.

Haught and Davis will then be asked to develop lesson plans for their classroom and the use of fellow educators based on their experiences on the trip.

The NCSE says Haught and Davis were recognized for their innovative efforts in the classroom as well as their commitment to protecting science education in general.

"Dozens of teachers applied for the two seats, providing copies of lesson plans, explaining how they incorporate evolution and climate change in their classrooms, and how they have confronted efforts to politicize or undermine science education. Haught and Davis stood out not just for their excellence in the classroom, but also for their efforts to make their communities safer for science and science education,” the NCSE said.

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Nicole Gorman, Education World Senior Contributor

5/5/2016