MEMPHIS, Tenn. — ServiceMaster announced an agreement with the National Science Teachers Association to sponsor its Science Matters Web site and several of its teacher awards.

NSTA recently launched Science Matters, a major public awareness initiative designed to rekindle a national sense of urgency and action among schools and families about the importance of science education and science literacy. The Science Matters Web site, accessible at www.nsta.org/sciencematters/, provides teachers and parents with helpful reports and studies about the current state of science education in the United States, information about to how to work together to foster better learning experiences in K-12 science, and links to valuable Web sites that offer simple science experiments and activities to do in the classroom or at home.

“We’re delighted to be part of this worthwhile program, and to help introduce students to the importance of science in their everyday lives,” said J. Patrick Spainhour, CEO of ServiceMaster. “We’re deeply committed to science education because science plays such an important role in our company and all of our brands.”

In addition to supporting the Web site, ServiceMaster will sponsor three annual NSTA awards: the Distinguished Informal Science Education Award, the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Distinguished Service to Science Education Award. These awards honor K-12 teachers, professors, principals, and others who have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of science education and science teaching.

“Uniting with ServiceMaster to honor teachers and to provide the Science Matters Web site underscores NSTA’s commitment to elevating the quality of science education in the U.S.,” said Dr. Francis Eberle, executive director, NSTA. “We are thrilled to be able to recognize inspiring and deserving teachers year after year with these awards and to provide resources, through the Science Matters Web site, to parents and teachers that will ultimately help make excellence in science teaching and learning a reality in all schools nationwide.”