Outstanding high school science teacher Susan Rippe from Olathe, Kansas
I always enjoy sharing inspirational stories of outstanding educators. One of these is Susan Rippe, a high school science teacher from Olathe, Kansas.
Susan earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, in 1981. She earned her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, in 1991.
Susan inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position at Wilbur Junior High School in Wichita in 1983. There she taught eighth grade science for five years. In 1988, she transferred to Wichita Northwest High School, where she taught biology, anatomy and physiology, and chemistry. In 2003, she made an exciting change when she accepted a position as an teacher of Aerospace and Engineering Chemistry at Olathe Northwest High School. Since 2008, she has taught college biology at Olathe. She currently works for the Kansas State Department of Education conducting workshops for teachers. In all, Susan has devoted more than three decades to the profession.
For her stellar work in the classroom, Susan has garnered many accolades. In 2000, she earned Wichita State University’s STAR Alumnus Award. The same year she was named Kansas State Teacher of the Year. In 2005, she was named the Missouri State Teacher of the Year from the Air Force Association. In 2006, Susan garnered the national Teacher of the Year and the Christa McAuliffe Memorial Award. In 2015, Susan was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.
Susan believes that excitement breeds excitement, says the National Teachers Hall of Fame. She is passionate about teaching science and wants her students to become mini scientists, life-long learners and hypothesizers who understand the process of science.
