Tell us why you became a teacher

To pay it forward, from all the teachers that were patient with me. And to hopefully bring light to knowledge for the next generation in a way that is as fun and engaging as it was for me. By encouraging the processes, taking chances, and making mistakes we learn so much more about ourselves and the world we live in.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

About 2 years ago, I was doing a lab with my students on ocean water and how salinity and temperature affect density, and I was struggling with getting a part of it to layer up correctly (a little bit on purpose) , when one of my student groups got it and everyone gathered around it "ooooo"ing and "ahhh"ing like it was some miracle, then everyone else tried to figure out how to make the water layer up the same way.

What would you do with the $25,000?

20k I would probably put to owning a home of my own, the remaining 5k I would split between paying off debts, and investing in cool classroom things for my students.