Can an eighth-grade physics class be fun? Yes, if Andrea Yocum is the teacher. The proof: Yocum, a middle-school science teacher at Summit School of Ahwatukee, is a now-three-time recipient of a Golden Gator Excellence in Teaching Award from Xavier College Preparatory High School. The award recognizes junior-high teachers who have been inspirational to Xavier’s freshman students. Her secret? According to the judging panel, over half of Yocum’s classes engage students in advanced concepts through experimentation. The judges say the genuine care she shows for her students, along with the obvious love she has for teaching, also helped guide them to this year’s selection. If more evidence is needed, just ask Lauryn Scussel, a student in Yocum’s seventh-grade class and a Tempe resident. “I never knew science could be so fun until I started taking Mrs. Yocum’s class. She’s such a great teacher and makes you want to learn more.” Lauryn isn’t the only one intrigued by Yocum’s classroom success. Those who walk into the teaching lab at Summit may find it filled with roller coasters made by eighth-grade physics students that require them to calculate velocity and momentum with such advanced theories as kinetic and potential energy to make sure a marble stays on track through loops and turns. Yocum’s seventh-grade biology class has students dissecting brains and eyes, and making 3-D models that reflect the relationship of the rods and cones in the students’ own eyes. Sixth-graders design solar ovens, deciding what variables will let them be successful in baking a cooking in earth-science class. This is not the first time Yocum’s talents have been recognized. In 2009 she was selected as one of 272 teachers from 19 countries across the globe to participate in the Honeywell Space Academy for Educators at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. She also has been honored with a Gator award in 2014, 2012 and 2009. Yocum currently is taking courses through the National Math and Science Initiative, and was selected to be a member of the University of Arizona Water Education Cohort. Recently, she helped as a science educational consultant for an exhibit at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
