Science teacher wins fellowship

From a young age, Michelle Williams found success as a science teacher.

It started with chalkboard lessons for neighborhood kids in her hometown of Dallas-Fort Worth. At the same time, Williams was also creating dental molds and preparing pint-sized Xrays of different items she found in nature and brought into the office of her father, a dentist.

That same curiosity and sense of discovery is what motivates her today as a seventh-grade teacher at Canfield Middle School in Coeur d’Alene.

“I became a science teacher because I am fascinated with life science and the investigations and experiments that go along with it,” Williams explained. Now in her 10th year teaching in North Idaho, this year marks her third as a science instructor.

Williams’ hands-on approach to education has earned not only the interest of her students but also a variety of grants and several teacher of the year awards, including a 2009 award from the National Science Teachers Association, an Arlington, Va.-based organization that promotes excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning from students in kindergarten through college.

The Amgen-NSTA Fellows in the 2009 NSTA New Science Teacher Academy were announced at the beginning of the school year, and the honor was given to 184 other teachers from across the country, including one other Idaho educator out of Riggins. Recipients were chosen from hundreds of applications and will take part in a yearlong fellowship and professional development program to help support quality science teaching, while enhancing teacher confidence and improving their knowledge in academics. The winners receive a comprehensive NSTA membership package, online mentoring with trained mentors who teach in the same discipline, and the opportunity to participate in a variety of Web-based professional development activities, including online seminars.

In addition, each fellow will receive financial support to attend NSTA’s 2010 National Conference on Science Education in Philadelphia in March.

Co-founded by the Amgen Foundation in 2007, the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy was established to help reduce the high attrition rate in the science teaching profession by providing professional development and mentoring support to early-career science teachers.

“At NSTA, we believe it is important to help educators develop their skills as teachers so that they can not only bolster student achievement, but better inspire passion for science in their students,” executive director Francis Eberle said in a press release announcing this year’s winners.

While the award provides recognition for Williams’ work in the classroom, she said it is more important for what it will offer her students. With some 60,000 NSTA members, including fellow science teachers, science supervisors, administrators and scientists, Williams will have an immense network of educators from which she can cull lessons, teaching techniques and critiques, benefiting everyone who passes through her door.

“My network used to be just here in North Idaho, but once I became a fellow I joined a nationwide network of educators,” she said, adding that the unlimited resources provided by the fellowship will help her grow her program with little or no cost. “I’m constantly working on ways to improve and push myself … Science is an expensive subject, and to teach it the way I like to takes money and materials. I realize times are tough, so we are making what we have work. The way I jump the lack-of-money hurdle is to research and find grants to help support my classroom. You have to when times are tough.”

Canfield Middle School principal Jeff Bengtson said Williams, who is also the school’s robotics team coach, has always gone the extra mile for students.

“She’s awesome,” he said. “She’s done a very good job of getting grants, especially during financially tough times.”

About her teaching method, Bengtson added, “She provides a hands-on education that’s all about kids exploring, learning and discovering things for themselves. And that philosophy has made its way through our entire science department.”

Many of Williams’ students agree.

“She was my first teacher that really made me like science and want to learn more,” said Madison Sumner, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Canfield. Through some “cheesy examples” and real-world applications, Sumner said “she always kept you on task and made it fun.”

While teaching science hasn’t been without its challenges, Williams said her goals as an educator never change: to instill the same wonderment for the natural world she has had since she was a kid and hopefully to inspire future generations.

“What I like most about teaching science is the hands-on, inquiry-based instruction that motivates even the most reluctant learners,” she said. “It’s fun, interesting and keeps us guessing and questioning the world.”