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2008: Rising Star Teacher of the Year

Shaping Ladies and Gentleman
And exploring the science of the universe in the process

Science teacher Meghan Kelley says she likes doing any lab “if it involves making a mess.”

One that stands out is a dissection of cows’ eyes that she led after school for 30 students.

“You always remember that experience of actually cutting something open and seeing what’s inside,” she said.

Kelley, who teaches 6th and 7th graders at M.S. 44 on West 77th Street, tries to give her students as many experiences as possible to learn—not just in the classroom, but in the American Museum of Natural History, for example. At the museum, Kelley’s students have studied models of the solar system and held blocks of varying densities to represent the layers of the earth.

Kelley is a New York City Teaching Fellow, which means she is working toward a master’s degree in teaching subsidized by the city and, in return, must teach in New York City for two years.

After graduating from college with a major in exercise science, Kelley considered going abroad or volunteering. She also applied for a teaching fellowship.

“I feel like I was supposed to be a teacher. I just didn’t know it until I got the fellowship,” she said.
Though her two years are finished, she plans to continue teaching in New York City and will stay on at M.S. 44 next year.

“Although she’s relatively new, I want to compare her to a sponge—she just takes up so much information,” said M.S. 44 principal Liza Ortiz. “Anything new and innovative, she tries it in her classroom and she shares it with her colleagues.”

Her first year teaching, Kelley applied and was accepted to the Urban Advantage program, which connects teachers with eight cultural institutions across the city, including the American Museum of Natural History. As part of the program, Kelley takes science workshops and makes contacts at the institutions. She also brings two students to a year-end science fair at the museum.

“She’s very creative in how she approaches science,” said Council Member Gale Brewer, who met Kelley at last year’s Urban Advantage science fair. “She goes way beyond what she needs to do.”

Kelley is quick to credit others for her success.

“I’ve had great teachers, you know,” she said, pointing to several educators, including her childhood golf coach, Willie Carter.

After every lesson, Kelley recounts, Carter would ask her, “Why are you here?”
“To learn,” Kelley would say.
“To gain what?” he would ask.
“Knowledge.”
“Knowledge is what?”
“Power.”
“Give it your best…,” he would begin.
“…shot,” Kelley would finish.
“What kind of discipline?” he would ask.
“Self,” she would answer.
“What does that mean?”
“Take care of your self.”

She keeps these values in mind, particularly when it comes to engaging struggling students. One of her students, for example, “would sit there and curse me out and walk out of my classroom and slam the door and stomp her feet,” Kelley said.

She took the girl aside for long talks and found out that she was having a hard time with things outside of school. Now, Kelley said, “She’s a model for other students in the class.”

“It’s exciting to teach at this stage because you’re not just shaping them academically, you’re shaping them as people,” Kelley said. “I try to teach them to become ladies and gentleman.”

— Jenny Fisher