TONEY, Ala. — Science is what excites one teacher from Sparkman Middle School! So it’s no surprise her students get hands-on education in her classroom.
Meet this week’s Valley’s Top Teacher of the Week, Amy Ramsdell!
“I love what I do,” said Ramsdell. “Right now my zoology class with some extra visitors are dissecting frogs.”
Ramsdell has taught life sciences for fifteen years and counting, and frog dissection is just one of the many experiments. “Half of the students didn’t even want to get near a frog, and they’re all in here dissecting a frog. “Not all students feel the same way and we have a virtual option, where they can do it online.”
“We’re going to make a relationship between what they’re doing in zoology to what they’ve learned about human anatomy,” she said.
Ramsdell’s students explore inside the classroom, and they explore beyond the classroom as well.
“This in addition to when we’re in our STEAM class we’ve reached out and we’re working with the DoD and working on programs where we’ll be going to the Space and Rocket Center and we’ll be going to the Von Braun Center for a competition/fair. So they get to create, design, and explore and it gives them a less-structured opportunity to explore all the ins- and outs of science and creativity,” she said.
Ramsdell wants these lessons to stick with them. “If I’m bored, I know they’re bored. So I do whatever I can to make it exciting and relevant to what’s happening around us.”
She believes her students carry these lessons later on into their careers. “I actually have had several students graduate and go into education, and nursing, and law, and engineering’ and it’s exciting for me. It’s still exciting. I still get up every morning and I think, ‘What are we going to do today?’”
“It’s a great profession. It’s hard at times, but it’s still fulfilling and this is where I’m supposed to be,” added Ramsdell.
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[WEB EXTRA: Amy's Surprise]
