On a brand-new Teachers’ Lounge, our conversation with Stacy Wallace! She’s the gifted STEM teacher at Thurgood Marshall School in Rockford.
She teaches some fascinating and unique classes through a national program called Project Lead the Way. They offer a course on energy & the environment where her kids assembled solar backpacks to help power a school in a Ugandan refugee camp. There’s a medical course where students get a patient profile and play detective trying to reach a diagnosis.
They also have a Flight & Space course complete with high-tech flight simulators. In fact, it’s also led to Stacy working towards her actual pilot’s license.
“I've started my flights, and so it's been really great being at Cottonwood [Airport], because a lot of students have had track meets and tennis meets over at Auburn High School,” she said. “So, I get to fly over my students on the way out, and they think that's just the best. We wave to each other.”
We talk about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into providing those opportunities for her kids, the long and winding road that’s led her to STEM education, and much more…
SHOW NOTES
Educators in this episode:
Stacy Wallace
Stories featured in this episode:
Rockford students create new public mosaics of climate-threatened birds
Music: Our show's theme music is from the northern Illinois-based band "Kindoves" and their songs "Popn," "Origins" and "Quiche." You can find more of their music on their Soundcloud page. You can also listen to the episode of WNIJ's Sessions from Studio A where they were featured.
Teachers! People who know teachers! People with stories about teachers! Send us an email and be part of the show!
