Jamie Back. Photo courtesy Cincinnati County Day.
Loveland resident and Cincinnati Country Day School’s director of makerspace and innovative design, Jamie Back, was selected to receive the Outstanding STEM Educator Career Achievement Award for 20-29 years of service at the Tri-State STEM+ Conference in October 2024.
Jamie has taught computer science and engineering at Country Day for 11 years, encouraging students to explore their creativity through hands-on learning. She was recently co-educator on the school’s award-winning Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam, one of only eight teams nationwide to receive the prestigious grant to solve a community problem. Under Jamie’s guidance – alongside co-educator Angela Barber-Joiner – the CCDS InvenTeam created a patent-pending road bicycle safety invention, showcasing their innovation and practical application of STEM knowledge, and won the coveted Golden Beaver Award for excellence in technical achievement.
“Jamie Back is quite simply one of the best teachers in America,” says Rob Zimmerman `98, head of school. “Mixing equal parts joy and rigor, Jamie’s STEM classes have changed the lives of countless Country Day students. Best of all, Jamie instills a sense of intellectual curiosity and intrinsic motivation in her students. No one leaves her class asking, ‘Why did we have to do that?’ – instead, they leave asking, ‘Why did we have to stop doing that?’. This honor is richly deserved, and we are proud to call Jamie a Nighthawk.”
Her pioneering teaching approach has also been recognized through her participation in the Science Friday Educator Collaborative and the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program at the University of Cincinnati.
“There are so many wonderful STEM educators out there, and I’m honored to be one of them,” says Back. “Being at Country Day has changed my life, changed my career, and changed my children’s lives. And I’m better because of it, because of all the talented people I’ve had the opportunity to work with.”
A lifelong learner, Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in materials engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree from Xavier University. Her career began in IT at Procter & Gamble, before she transitioned to education. Before Country Day, Jamie taught at Covington Latin School, where she was a math teacher, math department chair, and technology coordinator.
“She brings the same grounded, practical approach from her experience in the field into the classroom,” says Angela Barber-Joiner, director of belonging & wellbeing. “She doesn’t make STEM feel intimidating. And although she’s a masterful educator, you will never see her taking credit for her successes – even though she deserves every bit of it. Instead, Jamie is the one celebrating her students’ breakthroughs, her colleagues’ achievements, and the progress of everyone around her. Jamie doesn’t just inspire her students; she inspires everyone fortunate enough to work alongside her.”
Jamie’s dedication to fostering a collaborative and creative learning environment earned her the school’s Lee S. Pattison Distinguished Teacher Award in 2018, and she continues to inspire her students by learning alongside them.
“In high school, I was that kid who raised her hand and asked, ‘Where would we use this?’,” says Jamie. “I enjoy creating projects that bridge multiple disciplines and enable students to find answers to that question, even if those projects are outside my comfort zone. I hope students leave my class being curious about the world around them and confident in their ability to find ways to solve challenging problems.”
The Tri-State STEM Leadership Award Committee evaluated all nominees based on their training and preparation, implementation of STEM initiatives, outreach, mentoring, and collaboration with other educators. For more information about the Tri-State STEM+ Conference, visit www.nku.edu/academics/artsci/about/centers/cinsam/p12teachers/stem-conference.html.