Tell us why you became a teacher

I was working as a chemist in the field with a small crew and of course in was my job to train my crew. I liked doing it and I thought I was good at it. In fact, my company began sending me new hires so that I could train them because they agreed. When I came home from the field, I had this idea in my head to teach. I tried other things as well but nothing gave me the satisfaction of teaching. It was the special student-teacher relationship, the connections, I needed. I still need them.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

It was my first year. I had a young girl who was interested in the arts and told me she hated science and my class. One time, I gave them an assignment to outline the information in the chapter on a notebook page. Instead, this girl wrote me a story about going out to look for frogs after the rain, but she intertwined all the scientific principles into the story. It was the most creative work I had ever seen. Now, I tell my students, "write me a story about what we have learned."

What would you do with the $25,000?

My 4-year-old daughter is still back in Peru with her mother, who is going through the visa process so that we can reunite here in Texas. It has been a financial strain, of course. We have talked and talked about taking her, Aurora, to the beach on a vacation, but it has not happened. We are hoping to be reunited in June. Maybe we will be able to do it, maybe not. With that money, we will take a trip to the ocean to celebrate making it through a very tough time in our lives.