A Pella teacher has won an award for innovative teaching techniques. The McGraw-Hill STEM Innovative Educator Awards honors 3 teachers across the country. Jim Emmert of Pella High School took third place this year for the Pella Exploring Near Space program. This program involves kids from Pella, Pella Christian, and Pella Homeschool students. The students design and build experiments, which are then launched via high altitude helium balloon into near space. The experiments are then tracked and recovered. Find photos of this years experiments at kniakrls.com.