MassBioEd will honor Revere High School (RHS) biology teacher Anna DiCenso with the Joshua Boger Innovative Educator Champion Award. Supported by the Joshua Boger Family Foundation the award is given to a teacher to support their own professional development and the needs of their school.
DiCenso will receive her award at the annual Champions for Biotechnology Education Awards Gala in October, which celebrates an organization, an educator, a public advocate, and a school for their commitment to fostering science literacy and advancing life sciences education.
To celebrate DiCenso’s achievement RHS faculty, students, district administrators, and elected officials joined DiCenso and MassBioEd representatives at RHS last week for a reception.
“We are so excited for Anna,” said Revere Public School Superintendent Dr. Dianne Kelly. “As one of our brightest and most engaging teachers, Anna quickly gained a reputation as someone with an unprecedented giving nature, not only to her students but also to the broader educational community. Her impact on her students and colleagues transcends the walls of Revere High and will stay with them for a lifetime.”
A graduate of Revere High School and her class’s valedictorian, DiCenso’s passion for science began during middle and high school science classes. After graduating from Stonehill College in 2017, DiCenso decided to begin her teaching career in her hometown.
“I enjoyed the labs and activities we did that highlighted how the concepts we were learning about in class work in the real world,” said DiCenso. “Now as a teacher, I love exposing my students to authentic science labs, so they can also immerse themselves with hands-on experiences of the concepts they are learning.”
As for being named this year’s Joshua Boger Innovative Educator Champion Award by MassBioEd, DiCenso said she was deeply humbled, honored, and grateful.
“MassBioEd has given my students and me exceptional opportunities to engage with a number of authentic labs using various equipment, like micropipettes, incubators, thermal cyclers, and gel electrophoresis,” she said. “I will forever be grateful for the guidance and inspiration MassBioEd instructors have given me to conduct these labs with my students.”
DiCenso added, “I am beyond thankful for the continuous support and guidance of my family, teachers, colleagues, and students. They have helped shape the teacher I am today and are a huge part of this award as well.”
Mayor Patrick Keefe presented DiCenso with a special recognition from City Hall for her exemplary performance in achieving this award.
“It’s a credit to our Revere educational system that Anna is not just an unbelievable educator, but she’s also an unbelievable former Revere Public School student,” said Keefe. “We really appreciate what she’s done. Anna is everything we want from a Revere educator. Your fellow colleagues should be extremely proud of what you do for our schools and your students. Just nine years ago, you walked these halls as a student, and now you’re leading as a teacher, so I couldn’t be prouder to represent you as a mayor and so thankful to have educators like you in our system.”
State Representative Jessica Giannino expressed her joy in celebrating DiCenso’s achievements, emphasized the importance of engaging more women in the STEM field, and highlighted the significance of DiCenso’s achievement as a local role model for students to see themselves in STEM.
“I’m so grateful for the work that you do for your students and our community, especially in this field,” said Giannino. “The field of biotech is difficult and I feel like it’s one of those subjects that you might have a student that’s either super engaged and they love it right away, or it might be like pulling teeth. Anna is doing amazing things in her classroom every day to keep her students engaged. I’m so excited that MassBioEd is recognizing this amazing teacher.”