Teacher gets NASA award and pink-slip
Fifth-grade teacher Chris Miko of Meadow Elementary was laid off last week after earning a prestigious NASA fellowship earlier this year. Photo by Andrea Ruse by Andrea Ruse Meadows Elementary fifth-grade teacher Chris Miko is one of 40 educators, chosen from among 2,000 applicants nationwide, to receive a National Aeronautics and Space Administration fellowship this year. He is also one of 19 teachers in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District who was pink-slipped last Wednesday. The termination notices were due to budget cuts and, as required by the California Education Code, based on seniority. “I didn’t know for sure where I was on the list,” Miko said. “I was just crossing my fingers hoping to be high enough up, but alas.” During his three years at Meadows, Miko, 32, has started a science club, fostered new technologies into classrooms and started a habitat restoration program run by pre-teens. “He is a phenomenal teacher and motivates his students in all subjects, not just science,” said Connie Harrington, principal of Meadows Elementary School. “Part of his attraction is that he’s so into it. He throws off a certain energy and the students sense it.” “He’s totally into…
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