Teri Cosentino: My Favorite Month To Teach

When fall is in the air, I start to think about the thousands of students who first walked through my classroom door. The first time, in 1993 it was 3-year-old story hour, and the last, 2016, sixth grade science. Over the years I taught in three different schools. The first was grades 3-6 science, then grades 1-3 math and science in a start-up charter school, and lastly grades 5-7 science. I wonder what those brightest, most curious, snarkiest and social butterflies are up to now, and sometimes as a gift, I even hear from one of them.

Being inspired to become a scientist by my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Kniezik, I ran a science day at my own children’s public school in 1995. I had a training session for volunteers so they could teach the K-4 kids about things like magnetism, atoms, friction, density, but also brought in outside groups to teach about the watershed, electricity, worms, etc. It was so well-received that the next year the school had their "first" science day.