ORISE Featurecast host Michael Holtz is the first to admit he isn't a fan of math. What he knows now is that he wasn't encouraged or given the ability to grow into his understanding of mathematics. In this episode, he and Zachary Minchow-Proffitt, a 2025 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, have a conversation about Social Emotional Learning with Ralph Pantozzi, also a current AEF Fellow, and Dr. Sharon Sikora, an AEF Alumnus. Social Emotional Learning helps educators understand how to encourage their students by meeting them where ever they may be emotionally when they come into the classroom, taking comparison bias out of the process, and helping students understand that they don't have to grasp a difficult concept immediately; it takes time. This was a meaningful and wide-ranging conversation.

Dr. Sharon Sikora is currently a preK - high school science curriculum specialist and high school chemistry educator for Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, California. In 2016, Sharon left her classroom of 10 years at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii to focus her attention on national education advocacy and policy as a 2016 - 2017 Einstein Distinguished Educator Congressional fellow serving in the US Senate at the Office of Senator Schatz (HI). Sharon has a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from Pomona College and a Master of Science and Doctorate of Science in Chemistry from the University of Denver. She completed a post-doctorate study in science education as a Senior Fellow at the NSF funded Center for Learning and Teaching in the West (CLTW) after which she served as Denver Public Schools district science coordinator. Sharon has collaborated on and presented sessions with NSELA, NSTA, and ASCD. Sharon’s leadership activities have spanned the international, national, state, district, school and classroom levels. With over 25 years as a science educator and as a published author, most recently with ASCD Education Leadership ‘What Students Have to Say About Student Engagement’, Sharon is committed to improving education for all.

Ralph Pantozzi has supervised K-12 instruction and taught mathematics in New Jersey public and private schools for 32 years. He has taught 6th grade math through Calculus BC and Mathematical Research. Most recently Ralph served as teacher and department chair at the K-12 all-girls Kent Place School in Summit, New Jersey. There he developed curriculum, instruction, and assessments coupled with physical and virtual learning resources to support girls’ engagement and long-term success with mathematics. As part of his work, he designed and maintained a learning space called the “Math Studio”. In a room full of books, games, puzzles, art and math, students socialize, communicate, and create mathematical ideas through exploration, play, and research.

Zachary Minchow-Proffitt has taught all levels of science courses over the last eleven years. Most recently, Zachary was a Lead Teacher of Integrated Science and Independent Science Research (Biomedical Engineering, Bioinformatics, Data Science/AI) at the Academies of Loudoun, in Leesburg, Virginia, which is a public magnet school for advanced STEM and CTE courses of study. He was also a Beginning Teacher Coach for the school district, responsible for mentoring new secondary science teachers in their first years of teaching. Prior to teaching in Loudoun County, Zachary taught IB/AP Biology at Annandale High School, as well as at AC Flora High School in Columbia, South Carolina, where he taught all levels of science and worked with students from around the world through the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Act gives the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) the responsibility for managing the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship. The DOE Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) manages this program for DOE in collaboration with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and the partnering Federal agencies, which, at the time of this recording, included the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Library of Congress (LOC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The DOE sponsors five placements in congressional offices.

To learn more about

the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship, visit https://science.osti.gov/wdts/einstein.