Pat Smith is a national award-winning educator, having received both the 1995 and 1998 Christa McAuliffe Fellowship; USA Today All Star Teacher award; and Educator’s Unsung Hero awards.


She researched and designed the Celebration of Flight program for teachers in Oklahoma for National Geographic in 2003. She has contributed to education in Oklahoma as an Ambassador on Oklahoma’s Governor’s Education Team and continued as a master teacher with NASA, Oklahoma Aerospace Academy, Cosmosphere, and the Challenger Center for Space Education. She has assisted in organizing the education department of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, was on the design team for the Smithsonian Institution’s Voyage through the Universe, and utilized a STARLAB with the Department of Defense’s STARBASE program. During her long career, Pat has been an active member of Oklahoma Educator’s Association, Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education and National Science Teachers Association; Pat Smith worked for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as an educational consultant, presenting workshops on textbook curriculum, use of trade books to supplement textbooks in the classroom, and the implementation of new technology in the academic environment.

National Awards

  • Marquis Who’s Who Publication, Sixty-First Edition, 2007
  • Semi-Finalist National Teachers Hall of Fame, 2004
  • National Geographic’s Designer for Celebrating 100 Years of Flight in Oklahoma, a program celebrating the history of aviation in Oklahoma, 2003
  • USA Today’s All-Star Teacher Team, one of only 18 teachers named as the First Team from hundreds nominated, 2002
  • Nominated for NASA’s Teacher Astronaut Program, 2003
  • Recognized on National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center’s Wall of Honor, Washington DC, 2005
  • Featured in Teachers, by John Yow and Gary Firstenberg, a book recognizing 53 of the United States’ most outstanding educators, 2001
  • Nominated for Disney American Teacher Award, 2001
  • Educator’s Unsung Heroes Award, Reliastar/ Northern Life, 2000
  • Christa McAuliffe Fellow, 1995 & 1998, earning over $54,000 for her experiential Science program utilized in north eastern Oklahoma public schools
  • American Astronomical Society Teacher Resource Agent, AASTRA, 1995

Regional Awards

  • Broken Arrow Education Association’s Distinguished Service Award, 2003
  • Finalist: Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Program in Oklahoma, 1998 & 2001
  • Walmart/Sam’s Club Teacher of the Year for Oklahoma, 2001
  • Phoebe Apperson Hurst Award, 2000
  • Nominated: Educator of the Year for Oklahoma, 1990
  • Teacher of the Year for Park Lane Elementary School, Broken Arrow, OK, 1990