Community Corner
McDaniel Alum Named National Teacher of the Year
Michelle Shearer teaches better living through chemistry.
alumna Michelle Meredith Shearer on Tuesday will be named 2011 National Teacher of the Year by President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony.
Shearer, who earned a master’s degree in deaf education at McDaniel in 1996, has been a teacher for 14 years. She teaches AP chemistry at Urbana High School in Frederick. She previously taught chemistry at Urbana from 1997-2002, then taught chemistry and math at the Maryland School for the Deaf for four years.
“We are so proud of Michelle’s singular accomplishment and the light she shines on McDaniel’s 144-year tradition of teaching excellence,” said McDaniel’s President Roger Casey. “She’s a role model of a liberal artist and scientist who’s using her education to change lives.”
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“You would be surprised at what students accomplish once they realize that chemistry is a part of their lives,” Shearer said in a press release.
Chemistry and teaching are family affairs for Shearer. Her father, 1966 McDaniel College alumnus Philip Meredith, earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at Duke and was a DuPont chemist until his retirement several years ago. Shearer’s mother, Beverly Meredith, was an elementary music teacher until her retirement. Shearer’s husband teaches physics at Urbana.