Mim has served as an Educational Consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Apple Computer Co, Scholastic Magazine, and the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. A national presenter for the U.S. Patent Office, Mim has shared her creative and inventive thinking skills expertise with teachers from Portland, OR to Toldeo, OH. She did similar work with the INVENT AMERICA! foundation, reaching out to teachers in Chicago and Washington. She's been a Co-Keynote Speaker for the Ben Franklin Computer Conference held at Carnegie-Mellon University and the Computer Using Educators (CUE) of Delaware.
Apple Computer Co. and Modern Pictures Services asked Mim to use her creativity and computer technological know-how to write lesson plans in workshops held in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Maui, Hawaii.
Bizic helped write the educational resource handbook for the permanent Smithsonian exhibit, "Beyond the Limits, Flight Enters the Computer Age." She wrote lesson plans on Clean Coal Technology for the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center.
She was a member of the National Advisory Board of Scholastic Inc.'s TEACHING AND COMPUTERS
She has piloted several programs for the University of Pittsburgh's Regional Computer Resource Center, including the popular "Voyage of the MIMI" series.
Mim and her students won numerous awards, including First Place National Awards for Apple Computer Co. 1985 (Ancient Egypt); 1986 (Ancient Greece and Rome); and 1987 (Space) before being placed in the Apple Hall of Fame, and then again in 1989, with a unit on Women's History, that also garnered a First Place State Award from the Pennsylvania Commission for Women's "Women's History Month Contest."
She and her students traveled to Harrisburg to receive their N.E.E.D. (National Energy Education Day Award for the state-level contest.
Mrs. Bizic led her school to a national bin the FIRST "National Computer Learning Month" contest in 1988.
Her students also won a First-Place Regional and Third-Place State Award in the U.S.Bicentennial Map Contest in 1991.
On Saturday, October 13, 1984, Mim was honored by the American Legion Post # 4 at the Charles "Bud" Merriman dinner, receiving the Legion's FIRST "Special Award of Merit " for "her diligent work with the students on the elementary level in teaching democracy and patriotism."
Mim was named "Woman of the Year" in 1987 by the Sewickley HERALD, recognized for her many achievements on behalf of the children of the Valley.
In May,1988, she won the Judge's Choice Award sponsored by the Boston Apple Fest, and traveled to Boston to accept the great honor on behalf of her hard-working students.
She also earned an "Excellence in Teaching" Award from the PA Assoc. of Gifted Education in 1989.
In August of 1990, she was a Grand Prize Co-Winner with Dr. Merle Marsh of Delaware, for the FIRST "Johnny Appleseed National Awards Contest, sponsored by the Computer Users for Social Responsibility and the Macintosh Users Group (MUG) News Service.
Mrs. Bizic was named the National Honoree for the Smithsonian's ASTC Award (Association of Science and Technology Centers) for National Technology Week in 1989.
She was named a First Place Honoree for the FIRST "Thanks to Teachers" contest sponsored by Group W Broadcasting (KDKA), Westinghouse, Pitt, NFIE and NAB in June, 1990, the first year of the Award.
Bizic was appointed a panel member to U.S. Congressman Rick Santorum's "18th Congressional District's Schools of Excellence Recognition Program" in 1991-1992.
She served as a panelist in Washington, DC for a conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1992 after winning an appointment for the Elementary Teacher Research Internship (ETRI) in 1991.
Mim earned a scholarship award on Fossil Energy at LaRoche College (1992) and a Science Funding Proposal Grant from the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh (SACP) and the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh (SSP) 1992.
She was listed in the "Who's Who in American Teaching" of 1992, nominated for the award in the first year of the award by senior high school student, Melissa Barrick.
During the 1992-93 school year, Mim was a "Piloteer" on the INTERNET for the PA Department of Education, where she successfully had Sewickley teachers and students conducting scientific experiments, sharing poems and plays with students throughout the USA and the rest of the world community.
Her Internet travels led to her being named as an Educational Ambassador for the state of Pennsylvania to the city of Omija, Japan, in 1993.
Mim was named to Marquis' "Who's Who of American Women," in January, 1995.
In June of `95, Mim was selected as one of twenty recipients of a five week National Endowment for the Humanities Grant entitled "Japanese Culture Through Literature."
June '96 found Mim accepting a CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION FOR LEADERSHIP from the PA School Librarians Association for her roll in helping to bring the World Wide Web to the Sewickley community.
In 1997, she and fellow innovators, Dr. Robert Fusco and Dr. Joseph Marrone, along with the SNET Board of Directors, accepted a “CITIZEN OF THE YEAR” award from the Sewickley HERALD for SewickleyNET, the community's first official presence on the WWW.
Mim has spoken to various groups and clubs across the nation on Molas (folk art of the Kuna Indians of San Blas Islands, Panama), Love Tokens from the Victorian Era, and Hobo Nickels. She has had mola displays in museums in PA, OH, and WV.
She led a group of PA residents to Iptingen, Germany, birthplace of Fr. Rapp from the Old Economy Museum Site in Ambridge, PA, when she served on the Board of the Harmonie Associates.
Bizic has traveled extensively in other countries throughout Europe (England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, all of the old Yugoslavia, Finland), Mexico, Russia in 1999, and Greece, Egypt, Israel and Turkey in 2000, Ireland and China in 2004 and a tour of Serbian Monasteries in 2006, including her 3rd trip to Kosovo, and again (4) to Kosovo in 2008 with the Kosovo Men's Choir of Eastern Ohio. In 2007, sister Rose treated her two sisters to a trip to Viet Nam, where Rose worked as Director of the Red Cross in 1966-67 and again in 1969-70. Brunei, Sanya China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Phillipines were also a part of the 2007 journey. Italy, Spain, France were highlighted once again in 2011. Castaway Cay was the order of the day when Mim and her family traveled on a Disney Cruise in March of 2012. the summer and fall months were spent in Chicago, Phoenix, Washington, DC and at the Greenbriar, WV. And in October and November, she and her sisters traveled to Vienna, Ravenna, Split, Kotor, Cetinje, Budva (Montenegro), Dubrovnik, Syracuse, Malta, Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii, and Rome.
Bizic has written numerous articles on the above and on Serbian history for national newspapers and magazines. In July, 2001 she was the Curator/Author of the Serb National Federation's Centennial Historic Photo Exhibit that was held in Pittsburgh. The gala SNF "Century of Serbdom" event was televised in Yugoslavia, parts of Australia, England, and several other countries throughout Europe. She is also listed in "Who's Who in the Serbian Diaspora."
Bizic was enthusiastic over a PowerPoint project she implemented in the school library entitled "Literary Leader Reader" for her 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students that gave her students an opportunity to use technology in a creative way while proving they knew requested library skills. Bizic created CyberHunt-Webquests on The Lewis & Clark Expedition 1803-1804, General Alexander Hays and the Civil War, and especially made for Edgeworth's Centennial---webquests about Edgeworth Borough and the Edgeworth Female Seminary, and the English/Irish author the school was named after, Maria Edgeworth.
Links: http://www.babamim.com/, http://www.mimbizic.com/
