TOMS RIVER – Tina Held, of Point Pleasant , an instructor in the Ocean County Vocational Technical School ’s (OCVTS) Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES), is one of six New Jersey teachers named finalists in the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching competition sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Ms. Held was one of three New Jersey science teachers selected after they submitted applications to the foundation. The others are Luisa Marcos, of Union Hill High School , Union City and Marilyn Steneken, of the Sparta Township Middle School . Mathematics teachers selected for the award were Nancy Ciandella, of the Gloucester Institute of Technology; Ellen LeBlanc, of the Monmouth County Vocational Technical School ’s High Technology High School , and Linda Wisneski, of the Morris Hills Public Schools, Rockaway, Morris County .

Two representatives from each state, one representing science teachers and one representing mathematic teachers, will be selected to attend a Washington ceremony in March where the national winner will be named, according to Dr. Robert R. Higgins, of the New Jersey Department of Education

“Each state winner will receive a $10,000 grant and a certificate signed by President Bush. They’ll also meet government officials and possibly the president,” said Dr. Higgins who heads the Office of Innovative Programs.

The theme of Ms. Held’s submission was “Can the Age of a Fish be Determined by Less Invasive, More Efficient Field Methods.” Her experiment, both in the classroom and at Cattus Island State Park , in Dover Township , was carried out by 11 high school freshmen and sophomores.

The teacher is a graduate of Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and earned certificates in Graduate Marine Science at Rider University , Lawrenceville, and the College of the Atlantic , Bar Harbor , Maine .

Before joining OCVTS in 2001, Ms. Held was an instructor at Manasquan High School .