Pouring the beaker, students watching, the experiment was successful. “There are over 1,239,451 science teachers currently employed in the United States,” says Zippia.com, the career expert. About half a dozen of those teachers work at Jemicy. The Jemicy school science department contains talented people who love teaching, as well as a strongly-structured curriculum. From the vast variety of classes offered each year to the quick turnaround on graded assignments from most teachers, the science department has an effective system under which they teach.
It’s interesting to note that over the past few years, the science department has gone through many changes. With many teachers being fairly new to Jemicy, and a new department head, Mrs. Gerardi. Despite the department going through all this change and adjustment, from the perspective of students, it has maintained great integrity and effectiveness. Mrs. Gerardi told me that she, “was really excited [to] have the opportunity to contribute more to the Jemicy Science Department. We have such a great team, and it is really fun to work together to find new ways to push our science department forward.”
The science department at Jemicy is only growing stronger with better organization through the new chemical inventory program, plus better and more storage ability with the new shed.
Comparatively speaking, especially from the perspective of students, the science department stands in unity when it comes to policy and various expectations from the learning which happens in the classroom.
With the biweekly meetings in Mrs. Gerardi’s room, the department stays on top of its business. It is a smaller department, which helps with availability and communication. Mrs. Gerardi shared, “As department head, my main role is to be of support to all science teachers, helping with individual and class goals and sometimes with curriculum questions.” She shared that she also works, “With Ms. Simmers, our Lab Manager, to help make sure all science teachers have the materials required to run experiments and activities.”
Senior Laboratory Technician Liam Gimbel said that he has always enjoyed science and doing labs, next to KSR or woodworking, “these are the most hands-on classes [we] will ever get. So when I got a chance to help out Mrs.Dimiao I was ecstatic. Not only did it give me something to do in advisory, but it also let me learn interesting and unique skills that I would otherwise never have,” he said. Adding that, “from titration to solution-making to being able to pretty accurately figure out what storage area a certain chemical would fall under,” it has been a wonderful experience. Liam has been a laboratory technician for the last two years and said it, “has been an absolute blast,” he was always excited to go down to the science wing every study hall and shared that he, “even got a little disappointed when there wasn’t anything to do.” Liam has greatly enjoyed working under Mrs.Simmers and Mrs.Dimaio over the last two years, “it has easily been one of my favorite parts of my high school experience.”
11th grader Zoe Green expressed that she loves the science department. “Each and every teacher cares about what they do and makes every class fun.” Most students I talked with had a very similar perspective. Zoe then said that “Even though I have not experienced each of their teachings, from prepping labs for them to getting to know [the teachers] shows just how much of a passion they have for these subjects.” Zoe shared that there are factors that have made it, “a bit disorganized before the lab tech program,” but through lots of work from every lab tech, chemical storage has been organized and added to systems in which, “one could find how much of a single chemical and find it in a matter of minutes.” Zoe added that “being a lab tech is more fun than people expect. A lab tech may sound a bit boring of a job to others but for me, I have an extreme passion for science, so to be able to help teachers and get an overview of the science behind the classes and have a sense of independence to know teachers can rely on the lab techs to handle possibly dangerous chemicals or storing and aiding the prep to their labs is motivating.” Zoe believes the department has vastly changed when it comes to organization and that, “assistance has been developing past what the teachers had done before the program [laboratory technician] was established. The storage units are much more organized and teachers don’t need to worry about small things that lab techs help [with].” She ended by saying, “Overall, I love the lab tech program,” and she was glad to share her experience.
The core classes per grade level typically are USP science for USP taught by Mrs. Gerardi, Biology for ninth graders taught by Mrs. Stifler and Rabbi Hack, Chemistry for tenth graders taught this year by Ms. Simmers and Mrs. Stifler, and Physics for eleventh graders taught by Mr. Lally.
USP Science contains a variety of middle school science concepts. Mrs. Gerardi, who teaches the class, works to create an environment where students can maximize their learning potential. While at the same time working on executive functioning skills and studying techniques. As Mrs. Gerardi shared with me, “The USP Science curriculum is full of content that prepares students with skills and knowledge that will help them in future science classes.” She then added, “For that reason, the topics remain the same from year to year, however, several of the labs and activities that we use to teach [the] content alternate.”
Mrs. Stifler, a second-year teacher at Jemicy, and Rabbi Hack, a new teacher this year [2022/2023] are a great team for teaching Biology to the ninth graders. Students describe them both as friendly, good at teaching, and respectful. While many students will admit Biology is not the easiest class, they will tell you having such great teachers makes it much easier. Mrs. Stifler is always trying to present information in ways that best help the students understand, and is always willing to alter her approach based on feedback and her personal observations to best teach the information to the students. She told me she, “loves teaching,” and has had a wonderful experience at Jemicy. She shared her strong background in science and education, adding that at this point she prefers teaching high school sciences.
Ninth graders also take a health class, roughly half of the ninth graders have Mrs. Gerardi for that as well. In health class, students learn about the system of a human, with executive functioning lessons and practices mixed into the curriculum.
In tenth-grade Chemistry, the year is filled with lots of labs ranging from simple, to more complex concepts. In addition to regular quizzes and tests, there is a reasonable amount of independent work with access to help from the teacher if necessary. They also spend time throughout the school year working on projects independently and in groups.
In each core science class, there is a standard class offered and for certain students who can handle or are looking for more of a challenge, an accelerated course is available. Placement is determined by the student’s current science teacher and Mrs. Fick. In both situations, the students are learning very similar things, but the detail of which things are discussed can vary.
They have new courses available next year, in addition to some of which did not run this year such as environmental science. It appears as if there is a high level of student interest in some of these science electives, such as astronomy and anatomy. Many students hope to see them on their schedules next school year.
The Jemicy School science department is obviously on top of its business. The teaching team is amazing and their ability to quickly grade assignments, provide interactive lessons, and always be available to help students back up this claim. The staff is smart, friendly, and invested in their student’s education. If you need help, if you are confused, or if you have a random question, anyone from the science department would be happy to share their opinion, experience, or knowledge with you. Even more, they want to see their students succeed, and each and every one of them understands the role they play in each student’s education.
MOOSE PRINTS 
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