C.J. Evans served the CSSS organization for over 20 years in various leadership roles. Her first year on the board, C.J. served as secretary and then as the treasurer for the remaining years till 2017. According to C.J., CSSS was “little more than a social gathering at NSTA for a few years” and then the push for science standards came from the Federal level. C.J. was influential to the growth of CSSS becoming a leading science education organization. Early on, PAEMST programs were only funded with $1200 and C.J. worked with state programs to get them established. C.J.  has been a key liaison in the partnership that CSSS continues to have to this day with the PAEMST  program and it’s NSF partners.

In the early 1990's, C. J. Evans designed the CSSS logo currently in use. The logo came about when similar organizations developed logos and she saw CSSS needed one. Using Clipart to  create the CSSS “element”. The colorful logo has stuck around ever since.

C.J. was the State Science Consultant for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from 1991 to 2001.  Mel Carnahan, the Governor at the time, had the vision for math, science, and English academic standards in Missouri. C.J. worked with the Science Teachers of Missouri (STOM) to develop Missouri science standards based on the first version of the National Science Education Standards published at the time. Mr. Carnahan’s idea was to test a sample of students with hands-on science projects to gather evidence on the teaching and student retention of the standards. Although the Governor died suddenly in a plane crash and this never came to fruition, C.J. was leading this work that today we value as authentic student performance tasks. 

In C.J.s own words, “my biggest contribution to Missouri science was the constant push for science to be taught in grades 1-6.  In my time as state consultant, science teaching was relegated to about 20 minutes a week. The biggest reason was teachers had little, if any, background in science so we concentrated on professional development. We gave them the equipment to do science and to take back to their schools. Gradually, school districts began buying kits aligned to the standards for the teachers. A cadre of teachers would go around the state giving workshops to train teachers on the kits. It was great fun!”

In 2017, C.J. Evans received the Science Education Leadership award presented by Texas Instruments (TI). The intent was to recognize a CSSS member for “Outstanding Service to Science Education”. Graciously accepting the award upon the announcement of her retirement from the CSSS Board, C. J. received a standing ovation by members. Since then, TI continues to sponsor this award annually at the CSSS Conference.