Zachary D. Tribbett, East HS Class of 2008, Attends MIT with a Tip of the Cap to Teacher Karl Sivek

	East Principal Rick Dunlap and Biology teacher Karl Sivek celebrate the MIT Award.

A 2008 graduate of East High School, Zachary D. Tribbett, now attends the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but in his first year on campus he certainly did not forget the influential people in his life who helped him with his goals and achievements.

Karl Sivek, a teacher of biology at East, has been recognized by MIT after being nominated by Zachary earlier this year. Mr. Sivek has received The MIT Inspirational Teacher Award and is this region’s sole award-winner. The award represents a collaboration between the MIT Alumni Association and its Alumni Clubs, the Lemelson-MIT Program and the MIT Public Service Center.

Mr. Sivek was genuinely enthusiastic when talking about the award, saying, “I was thrilled!” He then continued, “What an honor to be nominated by a former student, let alone selected by the leading science and engineering school in the world. One always hopes that an impact like that can be established with students. You hope that they can take something positive away from the experience so that they can be successful in their next phase of life, and in the process be a positive influence on others. I can’t wait to see how Zach is going to make the world a better place.”

Dr. Rick Dunlap, East’s Principal, wanted to make sure that this evidence of the important relationship that exists between student and teacher was known throughout the district and the community. The inspirational element described by the MIT award seems to have played out in so many aspects of Zachary’s academic career at East. He was an outstanding student in the top 10 percent of his class, involved in the Model United Nations project, and participated in other clubs and activities from the school musical to the academic competition team. He was a member of the National Honor Society, among others, participated in several Science Olympiads, and the Mock Trial team.

Karl Sivek’s MIT announcement came in the form of a letter of congratulations:

Dear Mr. Sivek,

It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to receive a 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Inspirational Teacher Award. Students at MIT nominate the high school teachers who inspired them through dedicated and motivating teaching. You were nominated by Zachary Tribbett who shared wonderful input about your teaching with the selection committee. We are grateful to you for inspiring one of your brightest students to become one of our students. As part of your award, you will be invited to access resources at MIT that we hope will contribute to even greater success for you as an educator. Your inspiring work has contributed to the success of your students and, through them, to the success of our Institute and to the future of our nation and our world. We offer our most sincere appreciation and gratitude. - MIT Inspirational Teacher Award Committee

Karl Sivek receives congratulations from MIT Club of the Delaware Valley representative Lucie Wilkens.

Mr. Sivek offered the following insights regarding Zachary as a student at East. “I first met Zach as an incredibly inquisitive 9th grader in Bob Nutting’s (fellow colleague) seminar biology class. Zach would come in after school to pose these “what if” questions to us. We were both impressed by his interest but more so about his insightfulness at such an early age. I had the incredible good fortune to have Zach the following year in AP Biology where he was an outstanding student – maybe the best ever. Zach is gifted academically, he received straight A’s and a 5 (top score) on the AP Exam, but I have never seen such analysis and grasp of the subject matter as he demonstrated. He was fun to teach. I think he challenged me as much as I did him.”

Each year the WCASD counts a large number of awards bestowed on our teachers and our students in an extremely broad range of fields and activities. An award from as prestigious an institution as MIT ranks among the very highest honors an educator can receive, especially in consideration of the source of the nomination – a student, by that individual’s own testimony, on whose life this teacher has made a profoundly positive impact. Congratulations to Mr. Karl Sivek for having earned this recognition. We believe it is truly representative of the larger body of work all of our professional educators are known for around the area.

MIT has a wide variety of K-12 Outreach programs and resources available to
educators and students, such as the Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Systems Laboratory.

The MIT Alumni Association enables nearly 120,000 former students to stay in touch
with one another and continue their MIT connections. Under the direction of a
volunteer alumni board, the Association staff engages alumni with the Institute and
with one another through events held worldwide, web-based services, and
involvement in fundraising for the Institute. Over 80,000 alumni are connected online, via the Association's popular suite of online alumni services, the "Infinite Connection."

Lemelson-MIT Program
The Lemelson-MIT Program is dedicated to honoring the acclaimed and unsung
heroes who have helped improve our lives through invention. We inspire and
encourage great inventors through various outreach programs such as Lemelson-MIT
InvenTeams, a non-competitive, team-based national grants initiative for high school
students. The cornerstone of the Lemelson-MIT Program is a prestigious awards
program that includes the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize.

MIT Public Service Center
As part of MIT's Division of Student Life and Department of Student Life Programs,
the main goal of the PSC is to enrich the educational and life experiences of students
through leadership and service opportunities. We believe the best way to accomplish
this goal is to welcome all members of the MIT community to participate with those
students, so undergraduates can enjoy associating with graduate students, faculty,
staff, alumni, and other members of the MIT community.

For more information contact Rob Partridge, WCASD Communications Director rpartridge@wcasd.net / 484-266-1170

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