Jessie Wetherell

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because I absolutely love to learn and I wanted to bring that joy and curiosity to kids. My favorite part of teaching is answering all the rabbit trail questions they ask that are somewhat related but not necessarily what I’d planned for them to get out of the lesson. It’s more important that they are engaged and curious and are learning what excited them! Being able to foster that excitement is what brings me the most joy in my career.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I recently gave my students a project challenging them to make a model of the solar system either scaling the diameter of the planets, or the distance from the sun. I asked them to explain why using both scales would be impossible, and asked them to use creativity. These kids blew me out of the water with their work! My classroom now has mobiles showing diameter, hand drawn maps showing distance, posterboard models covered in paint, styrofoam, and clay, etc! So fun to see them learning!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I’d love to be able to use some of it toward hands on science experiments for my students. I’m thinking along the lines of a rocket launcher, maybe? Another portion I’d love to use for a field trip for my students to be able to learn from professionals in the field. We have a tsunami warning center here and an earthquake center, so those would make great educational trips! Anything left over I’d like to use on furthering my own education so I can stay up to date on all the current science!