Tell us why you became a teacher

To promote curiosity and fascination. I feel as if too often we as a society get lost in our phones or television even though the greatest show on Earth is the Earth itself. Exploration has been lost and I feel as if personal experiences promote altruistic responses. The more an individual sees or experiences, the more likely they are to care about what they see and experience.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

During the covid epidemic when students were "learning from home" via skype, I decided to go on a cross-country road trip where I was able to record videos and do live look in from a variety of national parks across America. Not just telling the students about information but showing them the evidence and real locations of places we talked about in class. Most of my students at the time had never been to a national park, let alone out of the state.

What would you do with the $25,000?

If chosen, I would use the money to fund educational experiences for students to explore real world locations they would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience. America's National Parks, Amazon rainforest, Australian coral reefs, or even the Galapagos islands would all be possible locations to get as many students as possible to explore firsthand some of the incredible natural environments our planet has to offer and hopefully further their curiosity.