Tell us why you became a teacher

My maternal grandmother taught 4th grade for 30 yrs, my paternal Grandfather was a Lynchburg University Professor. I grew up knowing that teaching was a respected and important profession. I debated Elementary school art in College (Radford, VA) but by my sophomore year, decided to “cure cancer” thus graduated with a BS in BIOLOGY. Working with human hepatocytes for human cell transplant became my Speciality for 23 yrs. Then career switched to teaching LIFE SCI for 7th graders and i love it!!

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

Dissecting frogs is always deeply memorable! A vast amount of students become fascinated as they locate the heart, lungs, liver, kidney stomach and learn they are all similar to humans- only smaller! I think many surgeon dreams are born in the dissection arena. And the lab report write ups are deeply thoughtful with 99% student engagement!

What would you do with the $25,000?

Pay off my car, get a fence around my yard for my dog, And set up a Science Afternoon STEM Camp for afterschool for SS2 & LifeScience students. And buy a new roof and remodel my 1981 upstairs bathrooms(2).