News & Analysis
A passionate teacher with good chemistry
George Leopold
6/22/2012 9:58 AM EDT
APPLETON, Wis. – Kara Pezzi didn’t want to be a teacher.
With a degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin at Superior and plans to pursue a Ph.D in chemistry down at UW-Madison, Pezzi couldn’t initially see teaching as the best way to pursue her passion for science. “I wanted to be a chemist,” she recalled during an interview this week in a high school classroom here.
Serving as a graduate teaching assistant, however, she realized that a doctorate in chemistry “was not the path my life would take.”
High school chemistry teacher Kara Pezzi will be recognized as Wisconsin's top science teacher under the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Pezzi quickly found that she took to teaching undergraduate chemistry like a fish to water. “I found my passion,” she remembered. It was “a chance to share my love of chemistry, a chance to open the eyes of young people, to show them the world from a different perspective.”
Next week (June 27), Pezzi will be among about 100 math and science teachers traveling to Washington to be recognized for their efforts through a National Science Foundation program called the Presidential Awards forExcellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The teachers’ packed schedule includes meetings with NSF officials and members of Congress, a White House tour and perhaps a meeting with President Obama.
Despite the national recognition, it’s not been a good decade for teachers, especially high school teachers. According to some estimates, the percentage of U.S. spending on education has declined by 2 percent to 5 percent of total GDP over the last decade. Despite all the talk about STEM education (science, engineering, technology and mathematics), the reality at the high school level is overcrowded classrooms, distracted students uninterested in or fearful of demanding science classes and, of course, harried teachers.
Pezzi, who is teaching an interdisciplinary summer school class for high school instructors, normally teaches five sections of chemistry at Appleton East High School (the school has gone from three to two chemistry teachers during her 14 years there). Pezzi has about 30 students per class in a room equipped with 28 lab stations. For many, chemistry will be the toughest class they take in high school. “They look at science as being really, really hard,” she said.
Indeed, the high school has only 60 students taking physics, an elective course that used to be required in the Appleton school district.
Pezzi just shrugs. “It’s not something that’s easy to fix,” the Milwaukee native said.
Along with reducing class sizes, another reform would be dropping standardized testing. Having taught high school chemistry for 20 years, Pezzi is convinced that standardized tests don’t work. “Let us teach,” she pleaded.
Despite the long days, students complaining about poor grades and the pervasive fear of failure on the part of many parents, Pezzi said an occasional call from a former student makes it all worth it. She recently heard from one who is earning a Ph.D in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. You can sense her pride.
That future chemist and the others whose lives were changed forever by a thoroughly committed chemistry teacher in this small Upper Midwestern city are the essence of education.
For that, we all owe a debt of gratitude to our teachers.
And we’re glad Kara Pezzi changed her mind and became a high school chemistry teacher.
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chanj
6/22/2012 2:27 PM EDT
I have all my education done in Hong Kong. Since it was a British Colonel, the education system fellow. At the age of 14, we had to choose between Science and Art. I chose Science which made Chemistry, Physics, Biology and 2 Mathematics a compulsory. At the age of 16, I had a standardized test called HKCEE. 1.5 years later, I have another standardized test called HKAL which determined to which University (aka College) I went. In my time, standardized test was never lack starting from age 11. Looking back, I can see the pressure to students, teachers and schools from standardized test. However, it helps me to prove I truly understand the subject. Now, I can see the value of standardized test. I believe it is crucial to prepare kids coming to the social. At the end, we have to go through a lot of tests in any society although none of them are really standardized.
A passionate teacher is very important to the education. Kids learn from us. Teachers have responsibility to teach the subject. Parents have responsibility to guide their kids through any obstacles. To make the society better, I believe all 3 parties have to work together.
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george.leopold
6/25/2012 9:23 AM EDT
Standardized tests may work in some courses like introductory classes. But that seems less likely for high school science courses. This is especially true when the teacher is passionate, as Kara Pezzi and other presidential award winners are. Standardized tests also seem like a waste of time for advanced placement courses where students are motivated. So the lesson seems to be not to impose one framework for all course work.
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Sparky_Watt
6/22/2012 3:52 PM EDT
"No Child Left Behind" made a lot of mistakes, including the form and content of their tests. However, they got one thing right: You cannot improve what you cannot measure. You can try all kinds of things, but you don't know whether they have helped, unless you have an OBJECTIVE MEASURE. Unless someone can suggest another way to OBJECTIVELY measure student ability, standardized testing must be done.
Remember, going off the teacher's grades is biased by the teacher. If you make it clear that the teacher's performance will be measured by the student's grades, guess what, the curve will change.
Neither can you go by how the students do in later life, that is to vague and too late.
What is needed are standardized tests that truly measure student ability, and that the results be used constructively and fairly. Two goals that are not met by "No Child Left Behind". Teachers and industry leaders both should be involved in developing the tests.
Pressuring teachers alone will not work. The test results need to be used to find what works and what doesn't, not to tighten the thumb screws.
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george.leopold
6/25/2012 9:26 AM EDT
"Teachers and industry leaders both should be involved in developing the tests."
This seems to be the key phrase, and one the community colleges are stressing. Tech companies that continually complain about a lack of skill sets they need to fill jobs need to work with schools to ensure the curricula includes the kinds of courses needed to ensure that graduates can qualify for available jobs.
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DrQuine
6/24/2012 11:21 AM EDT
Teaching science can be frustrating when the students don't want to be there. However, when the student has a passion for science, good science teachers are mentors who are never forgotten. Fifty years later, I still remember Mr. Bill Meadows from grade school, Mr. Richard Whitney from high school, Prof. Masakazu "Mark" Konishi from college and Prof. William "Bill" Keeton from graduate school. Each in his own way changed my life and contributed to my career of scientific research, innovation, teaching, problem solving, and invention. Passionate teachers who inspire and set standards are important.
Douglas Quine, Ph.D.
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george.leopold
6/25/2012 9:28 AM EDT
Kara Pezzi remains in touch with chemistry students who's lives she changed. It's not easy being a teacher these days in Wisconsin, a state in which they are practically demonized. Teachers like Kara Pezzi are worth their weight in gold.
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Charles.Desassure
6/24/2012 8:55 PM EDT
Very good for Kara Pezzi. There are many outstanding and dedicated teachers in the Country that will not receive this honor due to budget cuts. Happy that Kara Pezzi will serve as a role model for the other teachers at this event.
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Duane Benson
6/24/2012 9:49 PM EDT
Every year since 2009, the high school here in town has lost teacher and programs. Virtually all of the technology classes are gone. No software. No electronics. No mechanical. Fewer chem and physics teachers. Although, my kids have nothing but praise for the science teachers they've had.
I don't think I've heard a single teacher speak positively of standardized testing, at least in the way it's used. They say it forces them to teach to the tests rather than teach the material and it takes time from more valuable lessons.
In terms of inspiring teachers I had back in my high school years, "Doc" Norton, in chemistry, and Henry "where's my inductor" Anderson, in electronics, inspired me as well as educated me.
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george.leopold
6/25/2012 9:31 AM EDT
Same thing in the Appleton, Wisconsin, school system, which is one of the state's best. Kara Pezzi is one of two remaining chemistry teachers dealing with overcrowded classes and fewer resources. We thought the statistic about the number of physics students at the school (60) was particularly troublesome.
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any1
6/25/2012 1:06 PM EDT
Right now in many school systems kids are put in "advanced" or "accelerated" math and science tracks as they enter middle school (or junior high) based on standardized testing. So those kids who didn't do well on the standardized tests in fifth or sixth grade are facing an uphill battle in high school because they are now stigmatized as not being "talented" in math and science. Meanwhile many of those kids who were deemed "talented" eventually decide that they would rather be doctors and lawyers or hedge fund managers once they head off to college. As a result we just don't get many STEM majors in college.
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dylan.mcgrath
6/25/2012 8:38 PM EDT
I have fond memories of my own high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Giacomino. He was the first teacher that really opened the door for me to the fascinating--and fun--world of science. We need more teachers like Mr. Giacomino and Kara Pezzi. But with constant budget cuts, I fear we are going the other way. Too many people like Pezzi who would have made great teachers end up going into something else. Can you blame them? But in the end its our loss.
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nicolas.mokhoff
6/26/2012 4:58 PM EDT
We all had teachers who made good impressions on us that lasted a lifetime, and that is how it always was. But technology is changing the way our children are being taught and I can see a day when not only will college classes be online but entire education system will be dependent upon the cloud. Administrators and educators need to prepare themselves for that and become more like guidance counselors: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2012/06/hopewell_valley_schools_go_hig.html
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george.leopold
7/2/2012 5:46 PM EDT
The full list of Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=124712&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
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george.leopold
7/3/2012 9:22 AM EDT
This from Kara Pezzi's blog about the awards ceremony:
"I hope this award opens up new opportunities that will allow me to continue teaching but to also give back to my profession."
Here's Pezzi's entire blog:
karapaemst2012.blogspot.com
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Amy Jordan
7/3/2012 1:57 PM EDT
I am a colleague of Kara's at Appleton East High School. She is a passionate educator who wonderfully blends high expectations and just plain good teaching. She truly cares about her students.
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george.leopold
7/18/2012 1:47 PM EDT
Amy, That was evident when we spoke with Kara.
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george.leopold
7/18/2012 1:48 PM EDT
White House press release ("blog") announcing creation of a STEM Master Teaching Corps:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/07/18/president-obama-announces-new-plan-create-stem-master-teaching-corps
The administration should have done this sooner.
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