Pennsbury Teacher Scores National Award Using Hockey In Classroom

YARDLEY, PA —Charles Boehm Middle School teacher Sandy Metzger has scored a national award with her goal of using hockey to teach science.

The Pennsbury teacher netted "Most Valuable Teacher" honors for the month of January through the Future Goals program, supported by the National Hockey League.

Voting ran throughout January, and Metzger received the most votes out of 20 teachers nationwide, school officials said.

She was surprised by the news during a 7th-grade assembly at the school on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

All 7th-grade classes and their teachers were called to the gymnasium, believing that principal Travis Bloom wanted to discuss good digital citizenship.

Instead, Bloom revealed that Metzger had won the contest.

Students and staff erupted in celebration as representatives from the Philadelphia Flyers, including team mascot Gritty, walked into the gymnasium to present Metzger with her prize - Flyers tickets, a signed Carter Hart jersey, and a check for $10,000.

The prize money will support environmental and sustainability programming at Charles Boehm.

Watch the video of the celebration

"Sandy has done such a great job with this program," said Travis Bloom, principal of Charles Boehm Middle School. "She brings it back year after year, and our kids remember it. It creates an experience for them. She just brings a real positive attitude every day to school. She loves science, and she loves working with students."

Metzger is now in the running to be a finalist in the Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher
contest. Finalists' voting will coincide with Teacher Appreciate Week, May 8-12.

The winning teacher will receive an additional $20,000 to support environmental and sustainability in their school district.

The Future Goals program, presented by SAP, is a collaboration between the National Hockey League (NHL,) The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA,) and EVERFI K12.

Metzger has been using the program in her science classroom for over six years.

The interactive, digital lessons provided through the program focus on science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) through hockey.

"EVERFI's Hockey Scholar digital course, with both a math and science edition, leverages highly interactive gameplay and the sport of hockey to reinforce key concepts like scientific thinking and data analysis, exposing students to foundational STEM concepts through real-life applications," school officials said.