About CPAM

---

1. The Presidential Awards program began in 1983 with the naming of 104 awardees. From 1983 through 1989, the awardees were mathematics and science teachers at the secondary level, grades 7-12.
2. The first awardees from the elementary level were named in 1990. In September 1990, 216 awardees were named in mathematics and science. From 1990 through 2002, both elementary and secondary awardees have been named in mathematics and science. Beginning with the Class of 2003, elementary and secondary awardees will be named in alternate years.
3. Since 1983, 2,546 mathematics awardees have been named. Of this number, we know that seventy-four of our colleagues have died. The Class of 2020, the thirty-eighth class, and the Class of 2021, the thirty-ninth class, have been judged but have yet to be announced by the White House.
4. The newsletter was started in October 1984 and has continued publication on a regular basis since that time. The newsletter comes out four times during the school year. The logo of the newsletter is a sketch of the White House in Washington and of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The intention of the logo is to remind awardees of the Awards Week in Washington and of the NCTM Annual Meeting in San Francisco in April 1984 where CPAM had its beginnings.
5. CPAM has been incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware and has been determined by the IRS to be a nonprofit and tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
6. CPAM has awarded over $158,000 in scholarships to future mathematics teachers. In April 1989, CPAM began awarding $1,000 scholarships, renewable for three years. Over the years, the scholarship has been increased to $2,000, renewable for three years for a total of $8,000. Thirty-three recipients have been named. A thirty-fourth scholarship recipient will be named in April 2022. In April 1994, the CPAM Scholarship was named the Denise I. Griffiths CPAM Scholarship.
7. CPAM has completed two very successful NSF grants, Teachers Teaching Teachers and Leadership Development and Enabling Change. These were conducted in conjunction with the University of Northern Iowa (UNI).
8. CPAM held summer institutes for its members from 1988-1993 and again in 1995. In 2005, CPAM initiated a Leadership Seminar as a pre-session to the NCTM Annual Meeting. The seventeenth session in this series will be held in January as a Zoom session.
9. In April 1991, CPAM began distributing certificates for Outstanding Mathematics Achievement for members to use for student recognition.
10. A CPAM listserv was started in 1995 and continues today.
11. In 1998, CPAM joined with the Math Forum to answer questions submitted to the Teacher2Teacher service from all over the world. This collaborative venture provided both a service to the community by enhancing mathematics education and an opportunity for professional development for the CPAM participants.
12. Fourteen CPAM members participated in ICME-12 in Seoul, Korea, in July 2012. A PAEMST Awardees’ video was created to illustrate best practices in action; books written and donated by CPAM members were given away. CPAM participants readily interacted with the thousands of students and teachers who visited the USA exhibit. The video project was spearheaded by Sara Normington, OR '91 Sec, and Ann Lawrence. Gail Burrill, WI '85, and Linda Foreman, OR '87, played essential roles in planning the Congress and in the US National Presentation.

The preceding information tells us how CPAM came to be, where it has been and where it is now. Where CPAM goes in the future is up to you.

Facts and History provided by CPAM member,
Denise I. Griffiths, DE '83
November 1, 2021