The picture on the right shows Ms. Jones standing in front of a stone statue in Beijing University, China, with whom she collaborated on the study of air pollution.

Q - What subjects do you teach?

A - Environmental Science and Anatomy Physiology.

Q - Those two seem to be two very different subjects? Why did you decide to teach both?

A - The school places teachers where the need is greatest. I’ve taught several subjects over the years. I have taught biology, physical science, principles of technology, algebra and environmental science. This year is my first time to teach anatomy and physiology. I’m in the exceptional education program in Clayton County; the classes I teach are collaborative classes.

Q - Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A - Teaching is something I’ve always wanted to do from the time I was a child. I began my career in the field of technology. Then I went back to school and got a management degree. While I was attending Clayton College and State University I was inspired by two professors of Biology, Dr. Jacqueline Jordan and Dr. Christopher Kadoni. I decided then to pursue my dream of teaching after I was laid off from my technology job.

Q - How do you like working with students?

A - The best thing about teaching is when you see the excitement of understanding a concept. What I mean is you can see it in their eyes when they “get it”.

Q - What do you do to get those lights in the eyes going?

A - We use a lot of different techniques. Science is particularly a good subject because you have laboratories that you can do; there are a lot of hands on things, drawing posters to demonstrate knowledge, using computers and technology, films, field trips, and experiments. The GIFT program has helped me bring “real world” science into the classroom.

Q - What kind of labs do you guys do?

A - With environmental science, there are several labs involving soil testing, salinity, water sampling, and atmospheric studies. In anatomy and physiology dissections and some neat osmosis labs are what we started with.

Q - That sounds really cool. In anatomy, do you guys get to dissect stuff?

A - In anatomy, we get to dissect a cat at the end of the year!

Q - Wow that is so neat! I have never dissected a cat in my life. But, dissecting frogs and mice is my favorite part of biology and anatomy.

A - Yeah, there are a lot of dissections going in the class. You have everything from worms, frogs to fetal pigs (the first year I taught biology). Dissecting stuff also helps get the message across to the students.

Q - I know sometimes teaching is really hard, especially trying to explain a very abstract concept. What is the most difficult part for you to get the messages to the students and get them interested?

A - A lot of the times, the students get distracted by outside things: things that are going on at home, things that are going on with their peers. Sometimes it’s hard to keep them on task, because they think they have more important things to worry about. Education is not as valued as it used to be. I think it is important to help them understand the importance of education and especially the importance of higher education. Bringing my GIFT experiences into the classroom helps to instill this understanding.

Q - I totally agree. How do you cope with that, though?

A - You try to bring things related to the outside world into the classroom. You show them what science is in the real world: how they can use the skills they learn in the classroom to find a job later on in their lives. That’s where GIFT comes in.

Q - Speaking of GIFT, why did you decide to participate in the program?

A - This was actually my second year participating in it. I learned about the program through our science coordinator in Clayton County, Katrina Miller. When I heard about GIFT it just seemed like a really good way to not only learn myself, but to bring real world science into the classroom. Every year, you have students that ask, “Why do we learn these things?” So these real world applications show them that there are jobs out there that they can get, and that science is used in the real world.

Q - What area were you involved with during your first year of GIFT?

A - I worked with Georgia Power and the Southern Company at Plant Scherer in Juliette Georgia. It was a great experience, because I learned all about fossil fuels – anything from water chemistry to the operations of the plant and I worked closely with the environmental group at the plant. When I got back to school, I implemented my action plan, which involved several technologies and a project requiring science research and experimentation. The unit ended with a trip to the power plant where the student saw science at work. I teach some of the students I taught last year in physical science as they have moved on to environmental science and they remember the concepts of power generation that they learned while working on that project. GIFT, the action plan – it works, that is the kind of retention of information we teachers strive to instill in students.

Q - What about this year?

A - This year, I worked at the Griffith campus at the University of Georgia (UGA). There, I worked on a project concerning meteorology for environmental science. I did some teaching activities that will be posted on their website that uses real time data collected by the university. There is not a lot of information concerning meteorology available so I think this will be a very useful tool for all teachers. The website is http://georgiaweather.net and it has an abundance of information that can be used in the classroom.

This year, I also went to China and studied atmosphere science with the professors from Georgia Tech!

Q - How was your experience to China?

A - It was very interesting! China has a very rich history. During the past 30 years, they have experienced an industrial revolution, so there are environmental challenges that are becoming critical. The 2008 Olympics will be in Beijing and I was asked to participate in the CAREBeijing project. I went with Dr. Yuhang Wang and his group from the Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Science and I worked with scientists from Beijing University, Tsinghua University, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and a group from Italy. They are all concentrating on atmospheric studies in Beijing China.

It was a large group of people who were working to collect data from the atmosphere to study different aspects of pollutants in the environment. The government supports this project and is working hard to combat the pollution.

Q - I’m kind of confused. Did you guys work on collecting data or coming up with models and solutions to pollution reduction?

A - As I understand it, data collection is the first order of business. The first part of the project was to collect the data; there was some very sophisticated instruments developed at Georgia Tech that were taken to Beijing in order to collect data and perform the studies. Air content studies are still being conducted – what’s in the air, and so on. It is not a mystery or a secret pollution is a huge problem across the globe. I believe the studies could lead to great discoveries, which could benefit all inhabitants of the Earth.

Q - what cities did you get to visit?

A - I went to Beijing.

Q - Awesome! Did you get to see any of the new sights they are building for the Olympics?

A - T there was a lot of construction going on in and around that city. They just built a new stadium there. The Olympic Stadium is quite something to see: I have never seen anything like that architecturally. It is called “the Egg,” which kind of looked like an upside down nest. It was very interesting to see that construction. It was all metal, kind of twisted. Overall, it was just a really neat looking building.

They are also building other rails to connect the existing subway system. The way the subway system is set up is that the rails go around the city in ring; there were outer rings and inner rings. Before the Olympics were contracted to Beijing, there were only two ring systems; now, they’ve added two more just in the last few years. This could really work for Atlanta also to ease the traffic situation.

The economy has really taking off over the past few years. So a lot of that is contributing to some of the air pollution factors. But as people gain more money, they want their own vehicles and such, and there were a lot of vehicles on the road already.

The picture is the entrance of the Forbidden City located in Beijing, China.

Q - how bad is the pollution over there? I’ve been told that sometimes the exhaustion coming from the cars make it so that it is very difficult to breathe clean air and even to see the road.

A - The air sometimes looks like fog, but it is really smog. Smog is caused by many emissions and it is noticeable in Beijing almost everyday.

Q - What kind of measures are they taking?

A - The Chinese government is really supportive of the effort to reduce pollution. I really don’t know a lot about the ways they are trying to combat pollution but while I was there a million cars were taken off the road over a weekend to see how much the absence of the vehicles affected the pollutants in the air.

In this picture of the rural part of China, the seemingly fog is actually smog

Q - what did you find was the most interesting part of your experience?

A - I learned a lot about atmospheric chemistry, which is something I can bring back to the classroom. My students are very interested in my trip and the different things I experienced in Beijing. It is an experience I can share throughout the year. As we studied population the subject of China come up throughout the unit, as China is the most populated country. China has a history that goes back thousands of years, and we don’t have that type of history here in the US, at least not in this area. It was very interesting to see some of the older architectures and the rich history of China.

Seeing how China has changed over the past 40 years from when they became a communist country, and changed to a more free economy is interesting. We have so many products that are manufactured in China I challenged my students to look around their homes to see how many products were manufactured in China. This helped them understand the amount of manufacturing takes place in China.

Q - How did it feel being at a place that is so crowded all the time?

A - It was very interesting to see how people deal with the amount of people that live in the cities. Beijing is smaller than the metro Atlanta area, but have three times as many people that live there. Although that type of population explosion is hard to deal with sometimes, the people are just great. The people that I met in Beijing are very friendly and helpful; they make you feel welcome. I didn’t feel like a stranger even though I didn’t speak the language, which was a great experience, also.

Q - what would you say is the best part about your GIFT experience?

A - To be able to really bring the information back to the classroom, showing students science in the real world and how they can be a part of it. Science really means something to society as a whole. It helps students to understand we are all citizens of the world and we must be involved as global citizens not just Georgia citizens or US citizens. When students ask you “why do I have to learn this,” if you can show them something scientific in the world outside, then they are more apt to learn more about it. One of the best things about GIFT is that you can show students real world science. You can demonstrate the importance of science, math, and technology in the world.

Q - How else are you applying your GIFT experiences to your classrooms? Anything you might want other teachers to know about?

A - There is a lot of good information we’ll be posting on both the UGA website and the Georgia Tech website that will be available for teachers and students and actually anyone seeking knowledge to use. A part of the project I worked on this year was to develop K-12 web portal for both sites.

Q - the data you collected in China?

A - Both that and from the meteorology program at UGA this year.

Q - What kind of advice would you give to K-12 teachers?

A - Never stop learning, which is what I do every summer through GIFT. Hands on science and new experiences infuse me and I can’t wait to get back to the classroom and share my new knowledge with my students. It’s been a good experience for me to go out and actually see the science at work, to experience the latest technology that’s going on in the world right now. It’s important to be updated as science is ever changing. Not a moment goes by that there are new discoveries, new things that go on, and you just have to be able to be aware of that so you can bring it to the classroom.

Students are more interested in things that affect their everyday lives, and there is a lot of science out there right now that’s affecting all of our lives. I feel one of most important topics right now is climate change, and it’s one of those things that you have to continue to follow and learn as much as you can to bring it to the classroom.

Q - I know many people who strive to be teachers, what advice do you have for them?

A - Just that if teaching is something you really want to do and you really want to bring your knowledge to the classroom, then go for it. It is a great career. It took me a few years to get realize this myself, but it is just so rewarding to be in the classroom and help students learn. Follow your heart! Teaching has changed my life. GIFT has enriched my life and I hope I can pass that enthusiasm on to my students. One of those students may change the world.