By Josie Harris

Why Teach?

Mr. Bryan Jaquemai says that he has always been passionate about teaching.

“[I’ve wanted to be a teacher] as far back as I can remember,” Jaquemai said. However, Jaquemai says that teaching isn’t just a 7 to 3 job. “You have to be able to work hard,” Jaquemai said. “There’s a lot of hours outside of class.”

Jaquemai says that a successful teacher must have the ability to put all assignments, lesson plans, and tests into a package “so that students can learn information and be able to use that information in real life.” What Jaquemai says he wants his students to learn from his classes range from the ability to understand a newspaper report to being selected for a job.

“It’s the motto of our school to develop lifelong learners and responsible citizens, and in that hopefully they’re getting some of that information from classes and they can make good, quality decisions and be able to better themselves,” Jaquemai said.

Jaquemai says that becoming educated will help students be able to relate to potential employers as well as everyday people.

“If you’re carrying on a conversation with someone they’re going to expect you to be knowledgeable at least about a certain number of things, [and] part of that is the natural world,” Jaquemai said.

Jaquemai says that seeing students learn and enjoy the subject that he teaches is a very rewarding aspect of his job.

“I enjoy seeing students grow from the beginning of the year to the end,” Jaquemai said. “I like to see their faces when the light bulb goes off, you can see in they’re faces they’ve got it.”

Why Teach Science?

 Jaquemai says his love for science dates back to his early childhood.

“My dad would take me out when I was little [and] he’d be standing there and storms would be rolling in [and] he’d point out clouds,” Jaquemai said. “He would tell stories [that] the neighbors would be like ‘Why do you have your boy outside? Get inside!” This is the same way Jaquemai says he became interested in astronomy, he says his father would point out stars and planets and tell him about the phases of the moon. “I guess I come by it naturally,” Jaquemai said.

Jaquemai says that meteorology is his favorite class to teach, and that students take an interest in it because it affects their daily lives.

“Weather’s in your face as soon as you wake up in the morning, as soon as you walk out the door,” Jaquemai said. Jaquemai says that what students learn from science classes will be essential knowledge in their adult lives, particularly classes teaching earth science, because it incorporates geology: the study of the earth, astronomy: the study of space and meteorology: the study of the atmosphere.

“We try to give students a basic understanding of those three disciplines so students can make informed decisions growing up and moving through life,” Jaquemai said. Jaquemai says that is why the number of high schools across the country with earth science classes is increasing. “We’re affected every day by policies that are put forth by our government that affect our environment so [it’s important] to be knowledgeable about these things,” Jaquemai said.

Although Jaquemai has been interested in science his whole life, he says he finds different things about it interesting now, such as the interactions of atoms. “I have to understand what’s going on on the small scale to be able to keep up with the discoveries taking place so I can bring those discoveries into the classroom,” Jaquemai said. As science suggests about man, Jaquemai’s interest in science has evolved, but as science suggests about dinosaurs, it is unlikely that it will ever go extinct.