Noyce Scholar Profile
Amanda Amos
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: chemical engineering
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: 11th & 12th grade College Preparatory Chemistry and IB Chemistry I and II
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Master Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
Kennesaw State University
Current academic or teaching status:
7
School and school district:
Marietta High School ( Marietta City Schools) in Marietta, GA
Background:
I have a Bachelor’s Degree from Auburn University and a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, both in Chemical Engineering. I began teaching in my current position as soon as I finished my Ph.D. and went through Georgia’s One Year Supervised Practicum alternative certification program to obtain teacher certification. I have taught College Preparatory Chemistry and IB Chemistry I and II for 7 years.
Why do you want to teach:
I can help but teach. It’s simply what I do, everywhere I go. I teach science because of its implicit usefulness and its ability to help us make sense of our world.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
My first year at my current school, hurricane Katrina unexpectedly sent 200 new students our way within a span of a couple of weeks. I remember classrooms filled with double the number of students they normally held, students being placed in classes without the benefit of transcripts to help guide decisions, and teachers and counselors scrambling to make it all work. The reason I remember this is I recall being amazed at the can-do attitudes of all parties. Students, teachers, counselors, and community helpers all worked together to provide for these students in some of their most difficult moments.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
It has meant a network of superior teachers with whom I can share and learn and it has also meant having access to high-level professional development.
