Tag Archives: Science Teachers

Missouri’s Jan Alderson: an exemplary high school science teacher

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Jan Alderson

Missouri’s Jan Alderson: an exemplary high school science teacher.

I always enjoy sharing the awe-inspiring stories of exemplary educators. One of these is Jan Alderson, a high school science teacher from Overland Park, Kansas.

Jan earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Central Missouri in 1969 and her Master’s degree in Biology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1973.

Now retired, Jan has taught such courses as life science, earth science, physical science, biology, and human anatomy and physiology. She has worked at both the junior high school and high school levels, teaching at Pittman Hills Junior High School, Raytown South High School, and at Shawnee Mission South High School. In all, her career as an educator spanned an impressive 45 years.

Jan’s work has earned a great deal of praise from her distinguished colleagues. “Mrs. Alderson’s classroom is a carefully designed studio of experiments, research, and meaningful information intentionally organized to educate, not overwhelm,” says School Board member Joan Levens. “She is constantly growing, learning, and mentoring. We are all beneficiaries of her quest to grow the next generation of well-rounded scientists.” Dr. Charles Wurrey of the University of Missouri at Kansas City agrees. “In all of her teaching efforts, she emphasizes ‘hands-on’ and ‘minds-on’ learning by involving student research and ‘learning by doing’ by having her students tutor and mentor others and provide service to the community,” he says.

For her work in the classroom, Jan has earned many accolades. In 1975, she was named Outstanding Missouri Conservation Educator by the Conservation Federation of Missouri. In 1991 she garnered a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. In 2011, Jan earned the Burroughs Audubon Outstanding Educator Award. She was even named an alternate from Missouri for the NASA Teacher in Space program! In 2014, this chalkboard champion was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

Jan Alderson: a truly exemplary educator.

 

Michigan’s Gary Koppelman earns national recognition for his environmental life lab

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Gary Koppelman

Fifth grade science and math teacher Gary Koppelman from Blissfield, Michigan, shows his students some of his favorite creatures that inhabit his Blissfield Environmental Life Lab.

It is always a joy to write about chalkboard champions who have earned national recognition for their hard work in the classroom. One such teacher is Gary Koppelman, a fifth grade science and math teacher from Michigan who established an environmental life lab, and for this work has earned numerous prestigious awards.

Gary attended Eastern Michigan University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Science in 1973 and his Master’s degree in Elementary Education in 1976. He inaugurated his career in education with Deerfield Public Schools, where he taught fifth and sixth grades from 1973 to 1976. In 1976, he transferred to Blissfield Community Schools, where he taught fourth and fifth grades until 1982. Next, Gary took a position at the New Life School, where he taught kindergarten through eighth grade until 1993. Finally, he taught fifth grade for Blissfield Community Schools in Blissfield, Michigan. In all, Gary has devoted 45 years of his life to the teaching profession.

For his work in the classroom, Gary has garnered numerous awards. Among these are the Michigan State Special Tribute Teacher Award in 2003 and 2012; the Golden Apple Teacher Award from Channel 24 TV in Toledo, Ohio, in 2004; the “Closing the Gap in Education Award” from the Chrysler Corporation in 2008; and the Shell Science Teaching Award from the Shell Oil Company in 2013. In 2014, Gary was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas. That year, he also received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from President Barack Obama.

Gary would probably say that his biggest accomplishment is establishing the Blissfield Environmental Life Lab, abbreviated BELL. “Since our school is in a northern climate, it is sometimes difficult for students to observe and experiment year-round with plants and animals and witness all stages of development from young to adult without interruption,” explains Gary. “The BELL has become an arboretum and terrarium, furnished with various habitats and biomes for observation and experimentation, allowing the entire district to use as an extended classroom,” he continued. The BELL contains a 1,500 gallon fresh water pond, a butterfly house, a 1,500-gallon salt water ecosystem, a bird aviary, a herpetile area, and an invertebrate zoo. “Students are now doing experiments and obtaining knowledge as they make predictions about life science and our environment,” says Gary. “Knowledge is deeply set as children invest part of themselves in exploring plants, animals, or various habitats found within the climatically controlled greenhouse,” he concludes.

Rock on, Gary.

 

Michigan’s June Teisan: Inspiring scientific minds for 27 years

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June Teisan

Michigan’s June Teisan: She’s been inspiring scientific minds for 27 years

I always enjoy sharing stories about remarkable teaches. That’s what this blog is all about! Today, I’m sharing the story of June Teisan, a retired junior high school science teacher from Michigan.

June earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1986 and her Master’s degree in Teaching in 1991, both from Wayne State University located in Detroit, Michigan. In addition, June is a National Board Certified teacher.

In a career that spanned 27 years, June worked as a seventh grade science teacher at Harper Woods Secondary School in Harper Woods, Michigan, where she was employed until 2014. Teaching junior high school students is a memory June carries with fondness. “It was fantastic. I loved it,” June remembers. “It is such  an exuberant age. They are self-maintaining because they are not little anymore, but they are not so cool yet that they go off on their own, and the doors are still open for inquiry and for new things,” she says.

After June left the classroom, she accepted a position in the Office of Education at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she served as an Education Outreach and Program Specialist. June has a reputation for being passionately committed to widening opportunities for under-represented and under-served students in the STEM fields. She is known for being committed to supporting urban and early-career educators with rich, innovative professional development.

Over the course of her career, June has collected many awards. In 2005, she garnered a White House Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. In 2008, she was named the Michigan Teacher of the Year and was named a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. She was also honored as a Smithsonian Teacher ambassador that year. In 2011, June was named a NASA TeacherNaut, and in 2015 she became an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow. In 2016, this remarkable teacher was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

Science teacher Bryce Carlson: He rowed solo across the Atlantic

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Bryce Carlson

Bryce Carlson, a high school teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio, who broke a world record when he successfully rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Some of the most amazing feats are accomplished by remarkable teachers. One of these teachers is Bryce Carlson, a high school science teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio, who was recently featured in the news because he broke the world record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. This extraordinary teacher is the first American to row solo and unassisted across the North Atlantic Ocean, and he did it in record time.

Bryce’s journey began in St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, on June 27. He arrived in St. Mary’s Harbor in the Isles of Scilly on the southwestern tip of England just 38 days, 6 hours, and 49 minutes later. The previous record was 53 days, 8 hours, and 26 minutes.

Bryce rowed a distance of about 2,000 nautical miles. This amazing teacher made the trip in a 20-foot, 700-pound boat made of carbon fiber he named Lucille. He packed the boat with navigation and safety equipment, a water maker, bilge pump, stove, mattress and sleeping bag, clothes, toiletries, a medical supplies kit, a few books, and a stereo with his favorite music selections. “If the boat or I get into real trouble, I can signal for help via an emergency beacon or VHF radio on the boat, a personal emergency beacon on my life vest, or by my tracking unit, satellite phone and a satellite Wi-Fi hotspot,” Bryce explained before he started out. These precautions were extremely important. During the journey, Bryce capsized several times and endured high waves, not to mention the remnants of a hurricane!

During his adventure, Bryce worked with a software company based in Cincinnati called Abre Everywhere, which will help him turn his experience and the data from his trip into courses available to other educators.

Bryce’s school is lucky to have him on their staff. He teaches biology, environmental studies, and psychology at the Seven Hills School, a private school located near Cincinnati, Ohio. The Seven Hills School, originally founded in 1906, aspires to foster natural curiosity, active inquiry, and self-discovery. Bryce certainly has modeled those characteristics in spades.

Bryce earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2003 and his Ph.D in Biological Anthropology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2011.

Right on, Bryce!

Herman Silas Pepoon: Medical doctor, scientist, and talented classroom teacher

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Herman Silas Pepoon

Herman Silas Pepoon, medical doctor and talented classroom teacher.

Many talented and dedicated educators came to the teaching profession after having first experienced success in some other career. This is true of Herman Silas Pepoon, a medical doctor who gave up his practice to became a high school science teacher.

Herman was born on January 21, 1860, in Warren, Joe Daviess County, Illinois. Herman earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Ubana-Champaign in 1881. After he earned this degree, he studied medicine, earning his medical degree in 1883 from Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago.

After earning his MD, Herman established a medical practice first in Nebraska, and later in Illinois. After ten years, in 1892, he gave up his medical practice and accepted a job as a science teacher at Lakeview High School, a public high school located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. He taught there from 1892 to 1930. In addition to his classroom duties, Herman taught courses in botany for young people and local teachers at Chicago’s Academy. He also led field trips and gave public lectures. A prolific writer, in 1927 Herman published An Annotated Flora of the Chicago Area, an acclaimed identification source for local plants. He also published a botanical teaching manual entitled Studies of Plant Life: A Series of Exercises for the Study of Plants in 1900 with co-authors Walter R. Mitchell and Fred B. Maxwell. Over the years, Herman published numerous articles on botany, forestry, and ecology in respected scientific journals.

After he retired from teaching, Herman became a life member of the Chicago Academy of Sciences (CAS), which named him Honorary Curator of Botany for the institution in 1930. He also worked with the Illinois Natural History Survey helping with the collection and study of vascular plants.

This chalkboard champion passed away at the age of 81 on December 26, 1941. He is interred in Acacia Park Cemetery in Chicago.