IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2023 - 23

Teller then brought her
students to a local elementary
school to share their
villains and their knowledge.
Here, Teller witnessed
her more reserved and shy
students connecting naturally
with the younger children. She also
saw how excited the fourth graders were
about science, how naturally full of curiosity
and wonder they were, and she began
to think about ways in which she could
help create more science opportunities for
Portland's youngest learners.
Teller decided to apply for a year-long
associate's degree at the
same time. At this new
school, Teller " was the
science department, " and
after three years there, she
shifted to a similar school to
Brooke Teller
help start that program.
Four years later, Teller relocated
to Maine and began a new teaching job
at Casco Bay High School, a member of
the Portland public school system. " This
high school, " Teller says, " if you Googled
it, you'll see it has a phenomenal principal
and staff. It's an Expeditionary
Learning school, a model school. It's
been featured on Edutopia, it's received
all sorts of accolades. It's an amazing
school to teach at. "
Teller, who by that time had received
her graduate degree in biology as well as
her administrator certification from Connecticut,
came on board as the founding
sabbatical from teaching and to spend that
year coaching elementary teachers, whose
backgrounds are often in elementary education
and not in specialized areas such as
science. When the district accepted her proposal
for the 2018-2019 school year, Teller
discovered that the district had no formal
elementary science curriculum. Science was
happening, but sporadically. Even within the
same school, students' exposure varied.
" If we want to engage all of our students
in equitable access to science there
has to be a districtwide curriculum, " says
Teller. Her sabbatical became about creating
a robust science curriculum for the
10 elementary schools in Portland.
The Right Person for the Job
This would not be Teller's first time developing
a curriculum. Teller, who majored
in biology with thoughts of becoming a
physician's assistant, had taken an alternate
route to teacher certification in
Connecticut, where she taught life science
at her own alma mater for three
years before joining a start-up high school
on a community college campus with
a Middle College High School (MCHS)
model. The MCHS model aims to bridge
the gap between high school and college
by providing students with exposure to
college-level academics within a supportive
environment. Students arrive as
juniors and seniors from their sending
high schools with the goal of graduating
high school and receiving their
Teller (right) with fellow collaborators on the third grade Wabanaki Studies and
Life Science Unit, Katie West and Fiona Hopper.
Third grade students at the Presumpscot River.
DECEMBER 2023 IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE
23
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2023

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