Amgen Canada today announced that applications for the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence (AASTE) are now open and is encouraging teachers in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec to apply.  The AASTE is designed to recognize and honour teachers who demonstrate exemplary science teaching and who achieve demonstrated results in student learning at the K-12 level in Canada.

Last year, Amgen awarded AASTE’s to teachers Gregg Mitchell, of Timberline Secondary School in Campbell River, BC and Casey Wilson, of William Grenville Davis Senior Public School in Brampton, Ontario.  Amgen was so pleased with the response to last year’s program, it was expanded for 2009 to offer the award to teachers in Alberta and Quebec.

“Amgen Canada is proud to be expanding the AASTE in Canada to honor those science teachers who make a positive difference in the lives of their students,” says Dr. Daniel Billen, Vice President and General Manager, Amgen Canada. “Amgen is committed to advancing science education, and we have the utmost respect for those extraordinary educators who are inspiring the next generation of great scientists and teaching our youth to embrace a lifetime of learning.”

With a longstanding commitment to science education, Amgen established the teacher awards program to promote and encourage science excellence in public and private schools.  Since the program’s inception in 1992, Amgen has awarded more than $2 million to educators who have made exceptional science-teaching contributions and who have significantly impacted the lives of their students.  Amgen is expanding its program this year in Canada, to honour a total of 34 teachers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and the US states of California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Washington, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.

In Canada, the 4 selected winners will receive the following benefits:

·         An unrestricted cash award of $5,000CAD;

·         A restricted $5,000CAD cash grant to the recipient’s school for the expansion or enhancement of a school science program, science resources, or the professional development of the school’s science teachers

Applicants must submit an innovative lesson plan that they have successfully incorporated into their classroom and can be shared with other teachers. A panel of independent judges will select the winners based on the following criteria: creativity of teaching methods; innovative lesson plan; effectiveness in the classroom and the plan for the use of grant money to improve science education resources in their schools.

A select number of the lesson plans submitted by 2008 AASTE Award winners is posted to Amgen’s website (at http://www.amgen.com/citizenship/aaste.html ) with the intent that other teachers will benefit from these innovative materials.  Select lesson plans from previous AASTE Award winners are also available for download at no cost to encourage educators to review and implement these excellent plans into their own curriculum.

 Teachers interested in applying should visit http://www.amgen.com/citizenship/aaste.html for more information. A new streamlined web-based application will be available this year, and French applications are available in PDF format.  Applications must be postmarked by January 31, 2009 to be valid.  Winners will be notified in May 2009. 

As a leader in innovation, Amgen Canada understands the value of science. With main operations located in Mississauga, Ontario’s vibrant biomedical cluster, and its research facility in Burnaby, British Columbia, Amgen Canada has been an important contributor to advancements in science and innovation in Canada since 1991. The company contributes to the development of new therapies or new uses for existing medicines in partnership with many of Canada’s leading health-care, academic, research, government and patient organizations.

About Amgen
Amgen discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science’s promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious illnesses. With a broad and deep pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people’s lives. To learn more about our pioneering science and our vital medicines, visit http://www.amgen.ca/.

CONTACT:    

Natasha Bond                         Tara Knight
Amgen Canada              Hill and Knowlton Canada
(905) 285-3007                      (416) 413-4474
natashab@amgen.com  tara.knight@hillandknowlton.ca