Tell us why you became a teacher

I fell into teaching by complete accident while working as a researcher. And as quickly as I fell into teaching, I also fell in love with it. Being able to share my enthusiasm for a subject I'm so passionate about has been a dream come true.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I think the most memorable moments happen every time we are doing a experiment in class and the students are engaged, asking questions, and eager to do more than what they have to. During one of my first years teaching, I remember having a class of students groaning when the bell rang because they just wanted to keep working in the lab. And still today, I have students ask to come in before school to help set up the labs for the day just because they enjoy learning more about it!

What would you do with the $25,000?

A portion would definitely be going into a vacation fund but the majority would go to where most teachers spend their extra money... their classroom. I would love to outfit my classroom with more equipment and materials to give my students the best science classroom that I could.