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Katy White ’01, in her second year as an eighth-grade Earth Sciences teacher at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge N.J., spoke on “From the Department of Geology to the Classroom: Experience of a Recent Graduate” April 18 in Van Wickle Hall room 108.
Free and open to the public, the talk was part of the Geology Department Seminar Series, held at noon most Fridays this spring, with lunch available at no charge to students and for $3 to faculty and staff.
Other lectures in the series will include Bill Metropolis of the Harvard University Mineralogical Museum, “Minerals and History: A Look at America’s Oldest Mineral Collection,” April 25; and Becky Dreibelbis ‘02, research associate at McLane Environmental in Princeton, N.J., an environmental consulting firm that specializes in groundwater modeling, “Volunteering with the Student Conservation Association: Geysers, Hot Springs, and Grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park,” May 2.
White’s lecture covered how she secured her position, requirements for successful teachers, the pros and cons of the job, ways to increase earning power, and how to get started.
White and fellow alumna Tina Miller ’97 are among three Earth Science teachers at William Annin. The school has a seismograph affiliated with Columbia University, which the teachers use to monitor earthquakes around the world.
In addition to classroom instruction, White helps lead field trips to Sterling Hill Zinc Mine, Millington Quarry, Andover Iron Mine, and Mud Wallow. A cheerleader at Lafayette for four years, White also is head cheerleading coach at Ridge High School.
Relationships with peers and professors at Lafayette readied White for the challenges of teaching, she says.
“Working with my professors prepared me for working with the school administration, and working as a tutor helped me to learn how to present material in new and different ways,” she explains. “I also learned how to work cooperatively with others through my relationships with other students.”
“The most valuable thing I learned at Lafayette is the content knowledge required to teach earth science,” adds White. “I had great professors and I constantly refer back to my notes from college to answer student questions. The other valuable thing is the field experience I received. Without my education at Lafayette, I would not be as effective as a teacher.”
White’s extra-curricular activities at Lafayette included serving as president of Geology Club and social chair and publications & correspondence chair of her sorority. In addition to working in the admissions office and as a teaching assistant, she volunteered as a geology tutor and tour guide.
Previous talks in the geology series this spring have included: