By Kallie Sulanke—
Muncie, Ind. – The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. has announced that Ben Buehler has been awarded the Robert P. Bell Creative Teaching Award to recognize his innovation through collaboration in the classroom.
Buehler, a science teacher at Yorktown High School, was nominated by YHS principal Stacey Brewer for his commitment as an educator to push himself, his students, and his colleagues to continue to learn and grow every day. In addition to his work in the classroom, he leads the school’s science club who recently worked to reduce the school’s energy footprint by removing unnecessary plugged in equipment and recommending more energy-efficient hand dryers throughout the school. He works to get more students interested in advanced sciences, encouraging increased participation by female students. Between 55- to 70-percent of his students have earned a 3+ score on their AP Physics exams. The national average is 37-percent.
“Mr. Buehler embraces the enormous impact he has on students,” wrote Brewer in her nomination. “He is always seeking outside opportunities for our students to apply their content knowledge and curiosity to real-life concerns.”
Buehler was awarded a Robert P. Bell Education Grant in 2017 for a project focusing on expanding interest and access to computer science courses across the high school. Through “A Tinkerer’s Showcase,” Buehler led his students through a year-long series of activities that took projects typically locked on a computer screen and turned them into tangible items through 3D-printing.
“The ability for my students to see their computer code jump off of the screen is a giant success,” explained Buehler after implementing his Bell Grant. “The materials purchased because of this grant have greatly increased the awesomeness factor of what my students can create.”
Buehler was surprised with the award during a private ceremony at Yorktown High School on Thursday, August 27. “I very much look forward to the announcements in the paper each cycle highlighting what other teachers are doing with the Bell Grants,” Ben shared in response to his award. “I’m always eager to put my application in when my inspiration and the grant calendar line up.” Ben is the third recipient to receive the award honoring a creative and innovative teacher.
The Robert P. Bell Creative Teaching award was established to complement the Robert P. Bell Education Grants program and honor teachers who have gone above and beyond to use creativity and innovation to enhance learning by their students. The annual program rewards, recognizes, and encourages extraordinary educators who have applied for, received, and executed a Robert P. Bell Grant from The Community Foundation in their classroom.
To commemorate the award, The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County awarded a $1,000 grant to Yorktown Community Schools to be used by Ben Buehler in his classrooms For more information about the Robert P. Bell Education Grants, please visit The Community Foundation’s website at cfmdin.org or contact Carly Acree-King, Program Officer, at cacreeking@cfmdin.org.
