“I was always interested in science. I like the hand-ons and the experiments — I always thought it was cool to know how the world worked and how we could change things. I actually didn’t want to be a teacher until my last year of college; I knew I didn’t want to work in a lab because you’re just stuck by yourself and when I came here and observed Mr. (Michael) Chapman, I was just amazed with the energy and interactions… I knew I wanted to student-teach here. [For a while after being hired] I was working with the National Science Honor Society and liked that the students wanted to do well in their school. In the fall, Ms. (Elise) Tobin asked me if I would be interested in taking over the National Honor Society and I liked the idea of community service, the in-school tutoring, and the willingness of the kids in NHS to help out.”