David Bartholomew

I have created a “thinking classroom” having moved away from traditional teaching, towards a more dynamic, student-centered classroom.

I embrace technology, am not afraid of change, and know the importance of problem-solving skills over computational skills.

Bob (Robert C) Capriles

I love seeing students experience their own magnificence! I especially like teaching credit recovery math classes. Most of the students who come into my classroom for these classes think and have probably been told that they can’t do math for a long time. I work to develop relationships with the students and build their confidence as mathematicians. The most rewarding part is when the students completes the course as they realize that they CAN do math as well as they can do something that is really hard for them and SUCCEED.

Kathleen Essex

In Engineering, 90% of the curriculum I developed is project based. One of the students favorite units was building a bridge with Legos. The unit introduced constraints and the lowest ‘cost’ bridge that met load bearing constraints and a toy car could pass under was awarded the contract to officially build the bridge.

My experience in the Engineering and Computer Programming makes me different from teachers without STEM industry experience, because I have concrete examples of WHY the Engineering Design Process and the System Design Life Cycle are important and will improve projects at school, at work and even in their personal life. Students love to hear about my projects and my mistakes in industry.

Robert McKay

My students create local solutions to global climate change issues. These projects help them see that they can use STEM principals at a very local level to help address global issues if they can be replicated over much of the planet.

I had a student in my AP bio class this year who began writing music that related to our topics. She was strong musician, but that didn’t alone explain how incredible her music was. She had clearly been inspired by the biology we discussed and how it explained the natural world around her. She let those feelings flow into her music (which sometimes had lyrics and sometimes was just instrumental). It was hard for me not to cry when listening. That experience alone was more rewarding than anything that happened in my 25 year biotech career. And I have a lot of these kinds of stories.

I have 25 years of biotech experience and I find that students really enjoy hearing me explain how biotech works and how we use the same biology principles we are learning in class. So relevancy. I often bring in past colleagues as guest speakers and that helps a lot with keeping things fresh and interesting.

Christian Royer

I had 1 on 1s with each student during their project check ins and we all talked about what they envision for themselves after high school. I was able to give them insight into different careers and connect students with councilors and other people in the field so they can learn more about the fields.

Katherine Simon

Since I came from industry, the way I teach and approach things is quite different, I found, than most of my general education colleagues. Most have never worked in different companies or industries and really have only ever been in the classroom. I’ve had industry experience with many different companies and I run my classroom like I would an office, almost like I’m my students’ manager at work. I found that my students appreciate that. It takes them a while to get used to it, but I see a lot of growth and they really appreciate it in the end.