She left her science classroom this year to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve on Capitol Hill to help shape STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education in America. 
Dr. Kathleen Lanman, a seventh grade life science and eighth grade physical science teacher at J.C. Booth Middle, is one of 15 outstanding K-12 STEM teachers from across the United States who were named 2020-2021 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows. She is the only Fellow from Georgia.
Fellows spend 11 months (mid-August through mid-July) serving full time in a Federal agency or U.S. Congressional offices in Washington, D.C., engaged in the national STEM education arena. Lanman is serving in the United States Senate.
The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program provides a unique opportunity for accomplished K-12 STEM educators to apply their extensive classroom knowledge and experiences to their host offices to inform Federal STEM education efforts.
Federal agencies and U.S. Congressional Offices benefit from the real-world experiences of the Fellows, while Fellows gain understanding of the role of the Federal Government in the U.S. education enterprise, knowledge of resources available to students and educators, and broader perspectives on national education issues that can be applied to the classroom or to leadership positions in their school systems.
Lanman has helped to build an integrated STEM program at J.C. Booth Middle that has produced local, regional, state, and national winners in science, technology, invention, and robotics competitions. As a Middle Grades Lead Teacher for Georgia Tech’s InVenture Prize, she travels around the state conducting teacher workshops on invention and innovation in the classroom. She is a frequent presenter at state and regional science and technology conferences on subjects relating to STEM integration.
This latest honor of being named an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow is one of several she has received in recent years. She was the 2020 winner of the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers STEM Scholars award, a 2019 winner of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement Innovation in Teaching award, and a 2018 winner of the Henry Ford Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Award.
