| Joy of teaching earns educator top award |
|
By: LISA MARCHESONI, Senior Writer
|
Posted: Sunday, January 11, 2009 8:01 am
|
 Email  Print
|
Allowing students to “experience the joy and excitement of learning science” earned a prestigious award for a Blackman High School chemistry teacher last week.
Teacher Sarah “Sally” E. Milsap received the 2008 Tennessee Academy of Science Distinguished Secondary Science Teacher Award for the state, said Jack Rhoton, director of the Tennessee Junior Academy of Science. She received a $500 cash award, plaque and certificate.
Rhoton said the academy selected Milsap because of her outstanding contributions to science teaching and learning, bringing excitement and enthusiasm to her classroom.
“She creates effective learning environments that allow her students to experience the joy and excitement of learning science,” Rhoton said. “She allows her students to participate effectively in scientific practices.”
Milsap teaches her students about problem solving and discovery.
“Her classroom is not about having students memorize a lot of facts and filling in worksheets, which characterizes too many of our science classrooms,” Rhoton said. “She provides opportunities for her students to ask thought-provoking questions about chemistry and engages students to answer them.”
Milsap said she will use the $500 to pay professional dues to the American Chemical Society and to begin graduate school toward her doctorate next summer.
She discovered her passion for chemistry at home because both parents have chemistry degrees. Her father, Dr. Andy Brown, is a Murfreesboro physician, and her mother, Karen, is a retired teacher who teaches parttime at MTSU. She and her husband, Ted, have one son, Will, who is six months old.
After doing an internship in Knox County schools and earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science, Milsap became a chemistry teacher at Blackman nine years ago when the school opened.
“My passion has further developed because I love seeing my students get excited about science,” Milsap said, explaining they enjoy participating in lab experiments, getting their hands dirty and viewing chemistry first-hand. She can watch their expressions and “see the light bulb” when they understand.
In one experiment, the students make ice cream.
“We talk about making ice cream and how you can’t do it without rock salt,” Milsap said. They discuss the chemistry behind rock salt and ice cream because the rock salt changes the 32-degree freezing point to a lower freezing point, allowing ice cream to crystallize.
“I want my students to be great problem solvers, not only in science class but life,” Milsap said. “We teach problems to solve and hope they can use it in life. They can use chemical reactions and cool things chemistry allows us to do.”
During the summer, Milsap and students do science research as part of MTSU’s STEP program for Middle Tennessee high school students and teachers.
Milsap and student Jia Zhu did research on biodiesel. She also did research with student Courtney Ginn. Ten other students have participated in the summer program.
Courtney is now a junior at Duke University and Jia is a sophomore at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When Jia was accepted to MIT, both Jia and Milsap cried because they were so excited.
Inspiring a passion for chemistry in the classroom and mentoring to students outside the classroom onto the next level of science are reasons Milsap believes she earned the award.
She was nominated by the parent of a former student supplemented with letters from Jia and other former students, colleagues and principal Gail Vick.
“It’s really neat to be recognized by your peers for your love of what you do and your love of your students,” the teacher said.
Rhoton said Tennessee is blessed with outstanding science teachers, “but it would be great if we could clone Ms. Milsap. We need more teachers like her to help schools develop their capacity to teach 21st-century science skills from kindergarten through grade 12.”
Lisa Marchesoni may be reached at 869-0814 or at lmarchesoni@mufreesboropost.com. |
|
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!