Charles Christopher "Chris" Bucher Memorial Scholarship

"Must have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Must be majoring in either a STEM field geared towards space exploration; or, majoring in math and/or history with the goal of teaching. This scholarship is offered by his family in memory of our beloved Charles Christopher Bucher, known as Charles to his coworkers and Chris to his family. (for AHS , ICHS , MHS , RISE , SCHS ) Mr. Bucher worked in the journalism field for 10 years before switching to teaching Junior High Math. He taught in the Alvin Independent School District at Fairview Junior High ( FJH ), Alvin, Texas for 9 years before moving to Santa Barbara, California where he taught at Goleta Junior High for 2 years. Mr. Bucher was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and passed away in 2021. Mr. Bucher was passionate about teaching math. From a small child he loved all things space related, especially Star Wars and Star Trek. He followed our space program religiously and won a coveted spot with the initial NASA Teacher Aerospace Externship Program in 2011. He loved his students and did everything within his power to spark their interest in math. As an introduction to his new school, Mr. Bucher wrote the following on his Goleta school blog of his accomplishments at Fairview: “I was a math teacher, mentor, trainer, instructional math coach, ELM curriculum design coach, PTO founding member, District curriculum and assessment writer, positive discipline committee leader, robotics club sponsor, and honorary FJH Band member at Fairview Junior High School in Alvin, TX.” In addition, he was Robotics Club Co-Founder and Grant Recipient, 2014 and 2015 [an after school program], was selected Fairview Junior High School Teacher of the Year in 2014 and was FJH Engaged Learning Model Design Coach and Positive Behavior Committee leader. This scholarship is given in loving memory of Charles/Chris by his family to students who share his passions and enter the STEM fields of space exploration and/or teaching math or history."