Master of the art of science

By Frances Haman-Prewitt

Elaine Harper loves her work.

She spent a recent day encouraging her students to create geysers of Mentos and Diet Coke and evaluate which combinations of candy and soda climbed highest up the outside wall of the gym at Red Bank High School. (Diet Dr. Pepper won big, at 14.5 feet.)

Harper’s advanced chemistry class was clearly engaged and having fun with this project, but that wasn’t the point. Her students were learning about research methods—how to develop an hypothesis, isolate variables, conduct research, analyze results and arrive at conclusions.

“I hate science. That’s my least favorite subject,” says Nahomi Ortiz. “But (Ms. Harper) is an amazing teacher. She knows what she’s doing, and she makes it into a simple way that anyone can understand. So, even though I hate science, I’m actually liking chemistry. It’s exciting . . . I’m probably thinking of doing more science, especially if it’s chemistry or physics.”

Clearly dedicated to excellence, Elaine Harper strongly feels that sharing ideas with other teachers has improved her classroom. “As part of our structure here at Red Bank, every month we participate in one peer observation (where one teacher sits in on the class of another). I’ve picked up ideas from teachers I’ve observed, and I’ve picked up ideas from teachers who have observed my class and offered suggestions. Red Bank has a really solid staff, and it’s a great place to teach.”
These peer observations were developed as part of Red Bank’s improvement plans through Schools for a New Society, a reform initiative brought about by a partnership between the Public Education Foundation and Hamilton County schools.

“Teaching can be very isolating,” Harper says. “The opportunity for us to share ideas makes us all stronger, and allows us to do much more to challenge our students and help them develop higher-level thinking skills.”
Elaine Harper is one of many excellent teachers in Hamilton County schools. Take a video peek into her classroom at PEFChattanooga/ExcellentTeachers.