Our Vision, Mission, Core Values, and Story

Vision:

To create a classroom community which promotes the learning of basic scientific principles, fosters the development of critical thinking skills, encourages exploration of topics of interest, and challenges students to question, ponder, and understand how science affects our everyday life.

 

Mission:

Elementary-aged children will explore all areas of science through fun and engaging activities. My hope is that students will find joy and excitement in their discovery of new things as they have fun making messes, exploring the world around them, and developing life-long habits of curiosity and wonderment.  

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Middle school-aged children will rotate through different areas of science each year (earth science, physical science, and health science) with no particular order necessary. Each year will see the students gaining greater depth of knowledge through creative activities, group projects, and critical thinking, helping them be prepared for high school-level science classes and also instill a life-long love of science.

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High school-aged students will study the basic sciences of biology, chemistry, and physics. I teach with an integrated approach which allows students to see a more complete picture of how science influences every aspect of our daily lives. Studying previous scientists helps students to follow lines of logic that have led to scientific discoveries; analyzing scientific papers teaches students how research is done and how current applications are made from scientific principles; and looking at current job opportunities in the various science-related fields broadens job prospects in the future. Whether students want to pursue a science profession, or just enjoy learning about the sciences, classes will challenge them to learn more, question more, and appreciate the sciences around them.

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Core Values:

• Individual Mentoring:  Each student matters, and individually meeting a student’s needs is important.

• Curiosity:  Never stop wondering how things work, and always ask questions.

• Critical Thinking:  Search all aspects of an issue to find what is truth, and identify reliable sources.

• Knowledge:  Understand basic scientific concepts in order to be confident in basic, science-related conversations.

• Topics of Interest:  Always pursue areas that interest you.

• Fun:  Science should be fun, messy, loud, and engaging!

• Challenging:  Students should always feel pushed to learn more.  They have so much potential, and I hope to push them to reach that.

• Transparency:  Information and videos discussed each week will be sent in a weekly email.  Next week's topic will be introduced.  Parents are welcomed to reach out any time if there are questions regarding any topic.

• Family Supported:  Weekly emails will be sent to students and parents sharing what we learned, and also giving further discussion questions that can be used to encourage shared learning within families.