Pamela Whiffen was born in Williamsburg , VA becoming the first American-born child in a family who had just immigrated from England . She spent her earliest years as a resident of the Colonial Williamsburg tour and lived in the Coke-Garrett house while her father was the architectural historian and author of many books for both the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and later, the MIT Press. While she was still very young, her family moved to Arizona where she has lived, with only minor interruptions, ever since. She attended a private, English school until 7th grade and adored learning multiple aspects of a subject. She began writing news articles as a teenager and helped proofread her father's 16+ books. In high school she was a Hugh O'Brien Leadership Scholar and attended the Arizona State University Barrett Honors College which she still remains active with as a third reader for honor theses. After graduating with two undergraduate degrees from Arizona State , she attended the University of Arizona School of Law . After many years as a sales representative, she reenrolled in the Arizona State University Postbac Program for Teachers and earned her teaching certificate and her Masters in Secondary Education. She continued on to earn her Reading Specialist certification, her certification as a specialist in English Language Learners, and her Gifted Specialist Endorsement. As a middle school teacher for the last 13 years, she has designed her own highly successful cross-disciplinary enrichment course called Futurequest centered upon career development in science, math, and technology. She currently teaches astronomy and a specialized gifted science and math program at Mohave Middle School in Scottsdale , AZ and is an instructor in the Paradise Valley Community College Kids College Center for Advanced Academic Programming . Among her many responsibilities, she has also been the lead academic advisor for a multiyear NSF grant aimed at increasing the involvement of women in math, science, and engineering. In addition, she is a MESA (Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement) advisor sponsored by the Arizona State University Center . MESA 's aim is to make more minority applicants competitively eligible for a four-year university. She has, as well, been involved for a number of years in space science education as a NASA Solar System Ambassador , a National Space Biology Research fellow , a Messenger Fellow , a GRACE Fellow , a presenter for the Sally Ride Science Festivals ,a presenter-participant in Penn State 's Summer Outreach Program for Teachers , and an Educator Ambassador for the National Science Digital Library . Finally, as an author and presenter for the National Council for the Social Studies she has traveled extensively to conduct teacher trainings and presentations at both regional and local conventions that emphasize the inclusion of math and science in the social studies curriculum. Married 30 years with two kids, she describes herself as, "a perpetual student who is endlessly fascinated with the beauty and complexity of our Universe."

This page was last modified on Friday, 27-Jul-2007 13:27:38 PDT.