Michael McCaulley

Tell us why you became a teacher

I had planned on working in the hospitality field but had a change of heart. I wanted to do something where I could see my efforts turn into something. Teaching has an impact on those you teach, while ideally affecting society as a whole for the better. I made the right choice for me.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I was teaching a 4th grade class about moon phases. I took the opportunity to have my students close their eyes and visualize while I described earth’s movement within the solar system. I went on to explain that our solar system was one of hundreds of billions. I then had them zoom out from our galaxy to imagine hundreds of billions of galaxies within the universe. Then I told them there is debate as to whether there could be or are more than one universe. My class was blown away by this!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would buy my school kits to do cool science activities. I would get different units for each grade level. A couple ideas are water rockets and pinewood derby kits. The kits would allow students to test different variables and get a better idea of the way science expands our knowledge through investigating the chosen manipulated variable’s affect on a responding variable.