When Ms. Scott first started college, she had no plans of becoming a teacher. In fact, she specifically told her high school friends she wouldn’t.
“I originally went to school to be a research chemist,” she said. “My high school friends told me I was going to end up being a science teacher—and I swore I wouldn’t.”
But after a year in college, she realized something was missing: people. “I liked talking to people about the chemistry I liked,” she said. “I wouldn’t get that as a bench chemist.”
Today, Ms. Scott teaches chemistry at City High. She’s taught both physics and chemistry in the past, but now focuses entirely on chem. Her favorite topics tend to shift depending on the trimester.
“I really enjoy what we’re doing [in the] third trimester—exploring chemistry through everyday experiences without getting bogged down in math,” she said. “It’s more about reasoning and real-world application.”
That real-world approach is something Ms. Scott tries to emphasize in her classroom. While topics like compound naming and mole conversions can feel abstract, other units, like chemical reactions and energy, are easier to tie to daily life.
“If we’re baking a pizza, are we absorbing energy or releasing it?” she said. “There’s a wealth of examples all around us.”
One of her most memorable labs is a student favorite: transforming pennies to look like silver and gold through a reaction that creates brass. “It’s kind of an ‘ah, wow’ moment,” she said. “You get to talk about alchemy and see the change happen right in front of you.”
But beyond the hands-on activities, it’s the curiosity of her students that keeps things exciting.
“When students are curious, it reignites my own curiosity as a teacher,” she said. “I love when someone asks a ‘what if’ or ‘what happens when’ question. That’s when it’s fun.”
If there’s one misconception she hopes to break, it’s the idea that chemistry is impossible to understand. “People think chemistry is too hard or too math-heavy,” she said. “Adults still tell me they cheated their way through chemistry. But it doesn’t have to be that way.”
For students thinking about a future in science, Ms. Scott offers simple advice: “Try it. You don’t have to have your life figured out at 17. Explore it—and if it’s not the right fit, pivot.”
