BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Patrice Bridgewater-Daniel returned to her alma mater in Bedford-Stuyvesant to teach, hoping to make an impact in the neighborhood.
“It’s always great to give back to the community and the place that helped make you,” she said.
Seven years later, Bridgewater-Daniel is being honored for her contributions to Bedford Academy High School with the Sloan Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics.
The 27-year-old math teacher was one of seven recipients of the citywide award this month from the Fund for the City of New York and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
“I was shocked,” Bridgewater-Daniel said. “But it’s humbling to know that my hard work is recognized and it’s not in vain.”
The prize acknowledges public high school teachers who instill a love for science and math in their students.
“This year’s winners of the Sloan Awards, like the past winners, introduce their students to the beauty of science and math by making the subjects engaging, relevant and exciting,” said Mary McCormick, president of the Fund for the City of New York.
“Their students go on to pursue math and science in college and beyond and they leave high schools with the confidence that they have what it takes to become experts in math and science, to be able to think critically and to be engaged citizens.”
Bridgewater-Daniel attended Bedford Academy when the school was founded in 2003 and won a scholarship to Brooklyn College, where she graduated with a degree in Math Education.
She returned to the Bedford Avenue high school, where she teaches integrated algebra, common core algebra, trigonometry and intensive Regents prep.
“Ms. Bridgewater’s courses embody what the ideal classroom should be: challenging, engaging, and focusing on students and their diverse needs,” Bedford Academy Principal Adofo Muhammad said in a statement.
Her lessons are accompanied by two-hour tutoring sessions twice a week after school and on Saturdays and her teaching emphasizes group work and student interaction, she said.
“With teaching you have to create relationships with your students. That’s been a big goal of mine,” Bridgewater-Daniels added.
The winners for this year’s award were chosen from applications submitted by parents, students, teachers and administrators.
Other honorees included teachers from Staten Island Technical High School, Newtown High School and the Urban Assembly Maker Academy.
Each winner receives a $5,000 prize and their school gets $2,500 for its math or science department.
“If it wasn’t for the support of my family, friends and colleagues, this award would not have been possible,” Bridgewater-Daniel said.
“It’s not my award, it’s really ours — my village, my support system."
