This teacher spotlight is on our local chem buff Ms. Santana! Starting with her past, she was born in New York City, then moved to Puerto Rico. She lived there from when she was 4 to when she was 7, learning Spanish along the way. After that, she ended up in Maryland to visit some step-siblings, and stayed for a year. From then on, she spent a year in Puerto Rico, and then a year in Maryland.
When college time came around, she chose to go to the University of Michigan, who gave her a full scholarship! Ms. Santana studied biology and film. During that time, she got a lot of opportunities that revolved around teaching. She completed experiential hours (meaning she observed a class) within a high school in Detroit. She also got accepted into an intercultural experience where she went to Tanzania and Kenya to teach teens subjects in a community center. After her time in college, she got an internship in marine science education. As Ms. Santana said in the interview, “All roads led me into education. It wasn’t necessarily a field I chose.”
The things Ms. Santana most about Chemistry is the problem-solving and the reactions. She explained how they feel like magic, even though it really is science. She also said she likes studying things that happen at the molecular level and seeing how they make up our world. I’d have to agree. It’s interesting to think that we and everything around us is all made up of billions of atoms. A little creepy, but cool.
After this, I asked her about her hobbies. Despite claiming she’s busy this year, with 5 classes, and 2 lab sections, she said she enjoys “swimming, traveling, watching and discussing films, lifting weights, soccer, environmental policy, being around animals, learning new languages, repairing electronics, drawing, attending orchestral concerts, making others laugh and having deep conversations about life.” That is a lot for such a busy person. But I have to applaud how much she manages to do and how much she knows. I didn’t expect Ms. Santana to know her way around electronics, but it’s always the little things that make the most of something.
Finally, I asked Ms. Santana about pets. She mentioned liking being around animals before, but now she really got into animals. Oddly enough, her favorite animal right now is the Canada Goose. She’s also a dog person (which is the objectively correct opinion), having owned a Yorkie when she was in middle and high school. When I asked about having a class pet, Ms. Santana remarked how it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep an animal in the lab. However, she did consider it when she was a bio teacher, but came to the conclusion that she wouldn’t have the time to take care of it. But, if she did have a safe classroom and the time, she said she’d have a tank with sea stars, anemones and an octopus. Or, even crazier, she’d want a class chicken! A bunny is another choice she thought of.
And that was my interview with Ms. Santana, your spotlighted teacher! Thank you to Ms. Santana for letting me interview her, and I’ll catch you guys next edition!
