Bacteria, explosions, and chemical reactions are all part of a science teacher’s daily life.
Mrs. Thomas has been interested in science for as long as she can remember. You could say that science has been her family business. Her grandfather owned and ran a biological laboratory in New York. She remembers her family having gardens when growing up, and she had to understand how soil, bacteria, and fertilizer worked in order to grow vegetables and fruits.
“When I got older, I took a marine biology class in high school because I loved science,” explained Mrs. Thomas, science teacher at Frost. She loved to swim and dive, and thought that she could do that and see all the beautiful animals for her career. However, a few more science classes changed her trajectory. A microbiology class and a chemistry class made her realize that she loved working in the lab and experimenting with different things.
As an adult, she worked in two different laboratories, which she enjoyed and thinks back on fondly. Those jobs were some of the favorites that she has had. However, family changed all that. To be able to take care of her kids, she had to stop working in the lab for ten years. During this time, she started volunteering in their classrooms and realized that she loved helping out and teaching kids.
This realization gave her the drive to go back to college and obtain a Masters degree in education. She started teaching elementary school, but she still had not forgotten her love for science. So one day she found herself asking, why not combine the two? She started teaching math and science in elementary school, and then switched to teaching it in middle school.
She loves both math and science equally and enjoys teaching these subjects. “I hope that I get students excited about learning any kind of science,” Mrs. Thomas explained.
Mrs. Thomas tries every day to get students to love and be inspired by science just like she is. What she cherishes most as a science teacher is the opportunity to help middle schoolers find their own love of science and go out there and change the world.
