Pam Roller
Galveston Elementary School
Galveston, IN

"It is my firm belief that teachers make a difference by being role models, setting good examples, and instilling students with a desire to learn. I am in the business of enhancing lives! Teaching is my calling. I can make today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today."

"Miss Roller inspired me, my classmates, and our parents. She keeps things very interesting, which always keeps us thinking. We became authors and illustrators of two books now found in our school library and the White House library. Our class got to do more in one year than most students. I am thankful that I had Miss Roller because she taught me to believe in myself and that I can accomplish anything!"

Pam has a passion for creating a learning environment that allows her students to experience a great deal of success, believe in themselves, and to feel important, secure, and accepted. Part of her classroom looks like a jungle. There is a life-size tree house with a hammock, several seven-foot trees, stuffed animals from the rain forest, a lagoon, and classroom pets including a tortoise from South America, a talking parrot, a tarantula, a hedgehog, fish, and frogs. In addition to focusing on the basic skills and state standards, her students are stimulated by growing plants, watching chicks hatch, growing their own butterflies, taking care of pets, and other tasks that involve ownership and responsibility.

Other Highlights:

• PROJECT LAVA, studied volcanoes on Hilo, Hawaii, and proud mother of lava rocks for her classroom, 2002
• Oversaw the publication of five books by students, 2001-02
• Adjunct Faculty, Indiana University at Kokomo, 1996-2000
• Teacher for Gifted Education Resource Programs, Purdue University, 1996-2000
• VIP at the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis to dock with Russian Mir space station, Kennedy Space Center, 1995
• Amazon Jungle & Galapagos Islands trip for study, 1994
• International Aerospace Education, study abroad, Russian Space Science in Russia and Siberia, 1994
• Space Camp for professional educators, Huntsville, AL, 1988
• Studied abroad, Teaching the Future: International Aerospace Education in the Soviet Union, 1991
• Lay leader for First United Methodist Church, Logansport, IN
• PRIMETIME Presenter for Indiana's Department of Education, 1989-1991
• Coordinator for various astronaut visits to the region
• Presenter for Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. 1994-2002
• Coordinator of numerous trips and projects such as taking kids to Kennedy Space Center, getting students in the schools to adopt 14 acres of rainforest and meters of a coral reef, and recycling projects
• Numerous teaching and community awards