5+ Club

Applications for the 5+ Club are Now Closed

Applications for the 5+ Club closed on November 17, 2023.

If your U.S.-based institution graduated five or more high school physics teachers in the past academic year, be sure to apply for national recognition. Joining the 5+ Club places your institution in the 99th percentile for graduating physics teachers, and the work is vital to ending the severe physics teacher shortage.

How are 5+ Club Awardees Recognized?

PhysTEC will:

• Send a letter of commendation co-signed by presidents of the American Physical Society (APS) and American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) to the university president and other appropriate institutional leaders
• Present a certificate of achievement at the awards ceremony of the next PhysTEC Conference
• Congratulate new members of the 5+ Club in APS News and the AAPT eNNOUNCER
• Mark the institution as a 5+ Club in the Member Institution directory, and provide a web badge that may be placed on the program’s website
• Provide a draft press release, if requested

About the Application Process

5+ Club applications for each academic year open in the following Fall and awardees are announced in Winter.

Eligibility:

• Your institution must be a PhysTEC Member. Apply to become one!
• Your institution must have graduated 5 or more physics teachers within the previous academic year (September through August, or between the first days of two consecutive Fall terms).
• For the purposes of this application, “physics teacher” means “any student who has graduated from a PhysTEC member institution and has a major or minor in physics (or has completed equivalent coursework) AND has completed a teacher education program leading to certification.”
• If you experience any difficulty with the online application above, please email PhysTEC@aps.org.

Application Elements:

• List all relevant graduating physics teachers from your institution along with their content knowledge, certification pathway, and completion date