On January 17th, 2025, Former President Joe Biden announced Hillsborough’s very own Anjana Iyer as a prize winner of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Iyer, a science teacher at Hillsborough for the last 15 years, has achieved teaching excellence based on her previous awards during the past six years. This award is one of many others she received in her time at Hillsborough. She was also honored in 2023. Iyer has taught alongside her co-teacher Catherine Zavacki.
Iyer’s answer to where she finds her love for teaching “I wake up every morning happy to come to work. Teaching and making a difference for my students brings me joy,” she said.
Her passion for teaching has impacted both current and past students of Iyer’s who have only nice things to say about their experience in her classes. “I would have never passed chemistry if not for Ms Iyer,” said Tina Maluki, a HIllsborough graduate of the class of 2024. Many of Iyer’s students report that she is good at identifying their struggle and addressing it. Iyer’s student, junior Neama Sahararasaid, said “Whenever there’s a certain topic I don’t understand, she always finds different ways to explain it to make sure I fully understand it. And when she sees I’m really frustrated, she makes sure she confronts me about it and tries to explain it in the simplest way for me to understand.”
Iyer cites her inspiration for teaching as her students. “My students inspire me every day to grow and improve as an educator. Their curiosity and resilience drive my commitment to creating meaningful learning experiences. My passion for being an inclusion advocate also fuels my dedication. Ensuring that science is accessible to all students in my classroom is my greatest motivator,” she said. Iyer identifies her mother as her role model. “She was compassionate, loving, and always a source of inspiration for me,” Iyer said. She works to help her students feel the same way while teaching, which fosters a conducive learning environment where students are free and comfortable to ask questions. “I was really happy and honored that my nominator considered me worthy of such recognition,” Iyer said when asked how it felt to be nominated. She also acknowledges the weight of this prize. “It was completely unexpected. I was competing alongside some incredible teachers from our state, so it was truly an honor,” she said. Though the ceremony is yet to happen, this small town teacher has managed to make a big impact on the students in her classroom.
