Excellence in HS Science Teaching

This story originally ran in the May 1 issue.

    To better understand a botany concept, Ruth Heckman turns her students into blades of grass. “You’re all blades of grass on my front lawn,” she tells them, Kentucky bluegrass and crabgrass. In her Guilford High School (GHS) corner classroom, it’s “…spring,” she says, “…and I’m fertilizing and mowing you.”

    Things go well until hot, dry July rolls around. The crabgrass grows. The bluegrass dies. Why? Because the carbon four photosynthesis pathway of crabgrass has a distinct drought advantage over the carbon three pathway of bluegrass. Other plants, like grains, have carbon three pathways, Ruth explains. A student remarks on a news story about rising rice prices. Is it due to changing environmental conditions? 

    And, just like that, a connection is made, and learning begins.

    “I want kids to walk away knowing what is this concept, what do we need to make it work, what do we get after it’s done, and why do we care?” says Ruth of her teaching style.

    On Wednesday, April 30, Ruth will be recognized for unique her teaching expertise with the Connecticut Science Teacher Association’s (CSTA) 2008 “Excellence in Secondary Science Teaching Award.” Ruth was selected for the honor among all high school science teachers nominated in the state.

    Ruth is now in her 32nd year of teaching public school science, with 26 years logged at GHS. Her style encompasses humor, imagination, infectious enthusiasm, and an ability to relate to her students.

    “I just feel right with high school kids. It’s a good feeling,” says Ruth, adding, “…they know I have high expectations of them, and that I have high standards, and they respond to that.”

    For the past eight years, Ruth’s been the only teacher of Advanced Placement (AP) biology at GHS. Adding to the challenge of taking a college freshman-level course is the fact that most of the mainly junior-year students in her three, double-period classes haven’t seen the subject since seventh-grade life sciences.

    “The biggest challenge for the kids is the pace they have to follow and the depth of the material they have to learn,” Ruth notes.

    With her guidance, learn they do. In 2007, the GHS AP biology program was cited by the College Boards for testing as one of the strongest programs in the state. The standing led to Ruth’s being nominated by the College Board for the 2007 Siemens Foundation AP Teacher Award for Biology.

    Ruth says the success of her students is built on a network of great Guilford teaching.

    “I couldn’t do what I do with my students unless the teachers who came before me were awesome, from grade school on up.”

    Ruth also has a way of getting kids behind what they’re learning. One technique she’s created is to have students stop listening to a lecture, and instead explain what’s being taught to the person next to them.

    “They’re not telling me, they’re telling each other. If you’re explaining something to someone, you need to know the answers. It shows you what you still need to know.”

    Ruth says she’s also privileged have worked with some of the town’s best educators, past and present. They include the current members of her department and others in the GHS faculty, as well as retired GHS science teachers Dan Cinotti, Lynn Zullo, and Bruce Faitsch.

    “When you’re starting as a new teacher, working with veteran colleagues is so great,” says Ruth.

    Ruth began teaching right out of college in her native Missouri. Beginning in 1977, Ruth took a hiatus from teaching while raising her young children, Jim and Amy. In 1979, Ruth, her husband, Jim, and their children moved to Guilford. As Amy, the youngest, prepared to enter kindergarten in 1982, Ruth decided to offer her educational services to Guilford Public Schools. She was literally hired on the spot.

    “I walked in to put in an application, and they said, you’re a science teacher? Wait here,” Ruth recalls, smiling.

    One quick phone call to Ruth’s former principal yielded the praise the town’s education office was hoping for. She took the instant offer of a part-time job in the GHS Science Department and soon accepted a request to join the faculty full-time.

    Through the years, Ruth’s enjoyed the chance to help other new teachers gain confidence and success in the classroom. She says she’s “constantly learning” from classes, books, her colleagues, and her own students.

    “You’re learning all the time. I think that’s one of the things I love about teaching.”

    She even relies on her students to give a no-holds barred assessment of her classes every year.

    “I have students write a narrative evaluation and ask them to be as honest as they can. I learn from them, and I think it shows I respect them.”

    In her experience, Ruth, who has mentored many a new teacher, has learned, “…you may have your lesson plan set, but you will make so many changes to fit with the changes going on in the class. You may feel they’re not ready, or you’ll get a question that takes you on a tangent toward doing something different. I love to go with that connection they make. I love when they get excited about learning.”

    As for her own excitement about teaching, Ruth says the enthusiasm is still there.

    “I honestly can say when I step in those classes and see those kids I’m excited, still, to this day.”

    As for her CTSA Excellence in Secondary Science Teaching Award, presented at a special ceremony at the New Haven Lawn Club, Ruth adds, “…it means a lot to me. I don’t need an award to validate what I do, but it sure is nice! I really want to recognize the profession, the people I work with and my students. That’s why we’re here.”

Pictured: Ruth Heckman’s unique teaching style involves developing a rapport that shows respect for her students and encourages their ability to succeed. On April 30, she receives the Connecticut Science Teacher Associations 2008 “Excellence in Secondary Science Teaching Award.”

Photo by Pam Johnson