Schools

MIT Alumni Honor USC Teacher

Pat Palazzolo was nominated for the Inspirational Teacher Award by a former student.

Upper St. Clair teacher Pat Palazzolo has added another honor to her résumé.

She was selected for the MIT Alumni Association Inspirational Teacher Award, presented by graduates of the prestigious Massachusetts university.

Palazzolo, a former Pennsylvania Teacher in Space winner, accepted the MIT award during Monday’s school board meeting. MIT freshmen nominate the recipients.

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The award recognizes high-school teachers who serve as an inspiration to students. It also is intended to provide schools with “a stronger connection to the breadth of MIT’s offerings,” according to the award’s website.

President Ronald Reagan instituted the Teacher in Space program in 1984. Palazzolo was selected to represent her home state the following year.

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The program was canceled a few years after the death of New Hampshire teacher aboard the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986.

In June 2011, , which closed NASA’s space shuttle program.


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