Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/837825
Do You Know? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT LATIN? Each year, it's exciting to watch my students become readers and writers, and have interests in everything we do. As they learn math, they are often amazed at how they can solve problems in different ways from their friends. In computer science, they are starting to make connections with what they are learning in coding or sequencing to story writing, building and other everyday encounters. at's my goal – and it is so exciting to see it happening! I also enjoy being a part of Latin School life – Romans' Run, lower school Olympics, the plays and performances! I am at school late many days, but it is worth it to be a part of so many opportunities for my children and myself. WHAT ARE THE BEST PARTS OF YOUR JOB? e best part of my job is working with such a supportive group of colleagues who constantly help me become a better teacher and also help our students learn in their own ways each day. WHY DID YOU DECIDE THAT YOU WANTED TO WORK AT A SCHOOL? Having inspiring teachers as a child made me want to be a teacher. e first school I observed when I was in college was a first-grade class at Latin. I will always remember that day. I thought to myself, "I want to work here some day!" And now I do! WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES AND INTERESTS? I enjoy sewing, tennis and baking! I also love to try new apps and robots that I can use with my students. My own kids (Finn and Nora) are my best testers of new material. I know it may sound funny, but I love thinking about how technology works and makes education and life work differently, and better. WHAT TRAITS DO YOU ADMIRE IN OTHERS? Honesty, passion for new interests, willingness to take risks, compassion… WHAT ARE YOUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES? At school: My decisions are guided by what is best for the students and to give them opportunities to follow their passions. And, in life: Never settle, and continue to grow and learn. Three upper school students in Medicinal Chemistry class are hunched over a fishbowl, intensely observing a vibrant red male Betta fish they have named "Puff." One student removes a barrier in the tank and replaces it with a mirror. Puff soon notices his reflection and responds aggressively. Gills flare, fins sprawl. The students excitedly record this new behavior in their ethograms*. Tomorrow is treatment day, and the students will conduct this experiment again – after they have given Puff's water a dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor Fluoxetine HCl, commonly known as Prozac. Prozac is taken by about one in 10 Americans. It is metabolized by the body and excreted into our wastewater. Waste management plants are not designed to remove these active metabolites*, and so they find their way into the effluent and then to our streams, lakes and waterways. In Medicinal Chemistry class, John Choi's students are studying how this tainted water impacts fish behavior and thus alters ecosystems. MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY: YOUR FISH ON DRUGS Students leave the class with their eyes wide open to the effects of drugs on organisms and the impact a human antidepressant can have on an entire ecosystem." – John Choi, upper school science * VOCABULARY ETHOGRAM [ee-thuh-gram] noun A catalog or table of all the different kinds of behavior or activity observed in an animal. ACTIVE METABOLITE [ak-tiv muh-tab-uh-lahyt] noun An active form of a drug after it has been processed by the body. Latin Magazine » Summer 2017 19