Noyce Scholar Profile
Rebecca Mackin
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Biological Sciences
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Biolofy/Life Sciences-High School
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Sacramento State-Noyce Grant
Current academic or teaching status:
Teaching Credential postbac
School and school district:
Grant High School, Cordova High School Student Union
Background:
I have been going to school for a long time and just recently have been able to attend classes full time. Most of my college career I attended evening classes part time. I am a wife and a mother of a one year old. I have worked hard and mostly have paid my own way through school which is another reason why it has taken me so long to graduate with my bachelor’s degree and get into a credentialing program
Why do you want to teach:
I want to teach because I feel there are not enough dedicated science teachers who want to work in Urban areas.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
I was working with a student in an internship I had at Grant Union High School here in Sacramento and I had been helping a student with a PowerPoint presentation. In the beginning he wasn’t very talkative, would not have his work completed before class, or in any way was prepared for the work it took to put together a PowerPoint presentation. However by the end of the semester, he was coming to class prepared and had put together a detailed presentation. I was proud that he was able to step up and get things put together. I hear now that he is doing very well in all his classes (when I worked with him he was failing them all) and has really matured as a student.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program means to me that I do not have to work several jobs just so that I can afford to go to school full time while still being able to pay my bills. The Noyce program has relieved some of the stress that money issues can cause and has made life just that much easier on me.
