This past week has been amazing and so full of greatness! I have so many things added to my To Do list for next year already! So thankful for the fellowship and the fun! Even the traffic and commute time could not keep the smile off of my face.

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1. Get permission for my AP students to have a field trip to the water filtration facilities. That was an amazing experience so full of learning opportunities.
2. Create a project for students using the white board movie strategy. I really want my students to create a movie that helps to explain the path of water through the filtration system and to realize what happens to the water from the rainfall to the water bottle.

3. Create a lesson on Nano Particles that uses the idea of a hands on experience with blocks and Velcro. I loved this activity because it takes the abstract and turns it into a concrete idea.

It was so great to meet everyone this past week! I am looking forward to getting to know each of you and creating long term professional relationships with each of you.

My name is Chris Ann Winkler and I have been teaching in public schools for 17 years. My first couple of years teaching were in private schools and I taught Pre-K of all things. When my daughters graduated Pre-K, so did I. I needed to move up in developmental levels for my own health. So I started in the public school setting. My first year at Strack Intermediate, I taught 6th and 7th grade and loved it! I stayed in the Intermediate setting for many years and during that time, I taught all grade levels and multiple high school classes as well. I finally, graduated the 8th grade and moved up to the high school. Today, I am teaching at Cypress Parks High School. My students are all upper class man and come to me with a wealth of life experiences. This next year, I will be teaching Aquatics, Environmental Systems, and Environmental Science AP.

On a personal level, I have been married for a hot second and have two wonderful daughters. My oldest, Sami, is working on her Masters in Clarinet Performance at Northwestern in Chicago. I will be attending her graduation this next Spring and am so proud of her! My youngest daughter just graduated with her bachelors in Exercise Science and officially retired as a college athlete. She has caused me to visit softball fields all over this country. Caitlin will be attending a Doctor of Physical Therapy program that starts this August. She will be moving to Indiana just after we finish our time together this summer and trust me, my cup runneth over! My family is my greatest blessing and I think they are all that and more.

We had great orientation days!

We had Nano block activity and I learned to make a white board-tell story with my team. We laughed and ate together. We had a blast with Christina and Isaias. What a great start with Dr. Link talking Nano and why are we so excited about Nano…and the music started. It was all planned!!

We had a field trip to the City of Sugar Land Surface Water Treatment the last orientation day. The speaker, Mr. Bailey was very informative and friendly. Big difference between sewer water treatment and surface water treatment. The last one uses chemical and mechanical process. Yes, chemical process. So should we be worry about that beautiful house not even a block far from the surface water treatment?. The answer is No. Chlorine bleach is considered a Non hazardous chemical and chemicals are contained. If we believe the speaker. I was worry about Nothing and l should have put an offer for that house 🙁

Nevertheless, I got some interesting pictures. Hope you like them.

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My name is Gerardo Lopez and I am coming to you from Arizona. I am excited to join this team of bright scholars that are passionate about science and engineering as I am. I would like to become the best and most innovative science teacher that I can be and provide my students with an environment where they can integrate engineering practices into their learning. My assigned research project will be “Photo responsive binding of toxic and high value metals”. I will be working at the campus of Arizona State University with Dr. Westerhoff, Chao Zeng, and Hersheern Rajput. As I dive into my research, I will be thinking of how I will be integrating this into my lesson plans to an appropriate level where my students can do something productive with their learning. In my professional life, I have met many wonderful and influential people throughout my career that have collectively mentored me to become the professional that I am today. Fresh out of college and beginning with my humorous manager, Ray, in my career as a food chemist, my colleagues when I worked as an environmental chemist, to my first assistant principal, Mr. Dickerson, and the friends I made working for an internationally recognized medical device company in different research projects, these individuals always believed in my skills and abilities to become the best at my profession. Again, I am excited to join colleagues throughout the country to help solve the global issue in regards to the lack of access to water for many underserved communities. That will be an exciting endeavor but of course, I will only do it if I begin my day with my first fresh brewed cup of coffee with sugar and sweet cream.My name is Gerardo Lopez and I am coming to you from Arizona. I am excited to join this team of bright scholars that are passionate about science and engineering as I am. I would like to become the best and most innovative science teacher that I can be and provide my students with an environment where they can integrate engineering practices into their learning. My assigned research project will be “Photo responsive binding of toxic and high value metals”. I will be working at the campus of Arizona State University with Dr. Westerhoff, Chao Zeng, and Hersheern Rajput. As I dive into my research, I will be thinking of how I will be integrating this into my lesson plans to an appropriate level where my students can do something productive with their learning. In my professional life, I have met many wonderful and influential people throughout my career that have collectively mentored me to become the professional that I am today. Fresh out of college and beginning with my humorous manager, Ray, in my career as a food chemist, my colleagues when I worked as an environmental chemist, to my first assistant principal, Mr. Dickerson, and the friends I made working for an internationally recognized medical device company in different research projects, these individuals always believed in my skills and abilities to become the best at my profession. Again, I am excited to join colleagues throughout the country to help solve the global issue in regards to the lack of access to water for many underserved communities. That will be an exciting endeavor but of course, I will only do it if I begin my day with my first fresh brewed cup of coffee with sugar and sweet cream.

My name is Elliot Hall and I have been teaching for roughly eleven and a half years so far. Nine of those years have been as a sixth grade science teacher. In my free time I love to play video games with my son and watch shows with the wife.

The lab that I will be working in this year is run by Dr. Westerhoff, and my mentor will be Dr. Sinha. The lab project is a humanitarian project about Solar-disinfection windows. The purpose is to provide safe drinking water to areas where they do not currently have this need met. The research will be taking place at ASU TEMPE.

         I am excited about getting back into the research mindset and learning lots of new information. This will be my 2^nd year in the NEWT RET program and I am looking forward to new experiences.

My name is Leonel Resendiz, and I am high school science teacher. I am from Houston and I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University, Class of 2016 – WHOOP! The research I will conduct will center around thermal treatment of crude oil contaminated soils using a method called pyrolysis. This will take place at Rice University in Dr. Alvarez’s lab with Sara Denison as my mentor.

What sort of duties do you have at school do you plan to use in the lab?

With this being a research internship my lesson planning skills will come in handy as I plan and implement a lesson incorporating different components of my research and gradually use my data to formulate a lesson for my students. I have a true passion for working with our adolescent learners, particularly those from a low socioeconomic demographic so I hope to be a great “student” myself to be a better teacher for my students and make them excited about science.

Do you have any mentors in your professional life that helped you get where you are today?

My first job ever was as a kennel technician in an animal clinic. There is where I met Dr. Wiltshire who mentored inspired me to become a veterinarian and mentored me through college. Unfortunately I did not get into vet school but my love for science continued in the classroom. I started teaching at the high school I attended and my favorite teachers were now my colleagues and mentors, particularly my biology teacher Mrs. McCoo-Dogan, whom to this day I still go to for advice when I need it.

What are you most excited about this summer?

After a what felt like a never ending school year I am ready for the summer break. I am excited about being able to rest and take care of myself. I am also excited to get back into shape as I prepare our tennis team for the next school year. And of course, tanning because we all need a little Vitamin D.

Are you a coffee or tea person?

I am a coffee person. I enjoy a simple black coffee on a daily basis- the bolder the better. Occasionally I have iced tea with boba.

What’s something you think will be challenging? 

Being that it is my first time partaking in a program of this nature and caliber it’ll be challenging to first establish a routine that will work for me and our team. However, once established I can’t wait to see the outcome!

On a more personal note – I’m a proud dog and cat dad. I have two chugs by the name of Prince and Kalani and Chloe, my chubby calico cat. When I am not in the classroom I enjoy keeping my yard aesthetically pleasing, long runs and tennis.

Hi, my name is Liliana. I am a seventh grade science teacher at Spring Oaks Middle School (SOMS). I am from the North Coast of Peru but my favorite place to live is the Peruvian Amazon. My mentor is Dr. Segatori and I am really thrilled to have the opportunity to work with her. My mentor’s topics of interest are protein engineering, synthetic biology and bionanotechnology.

I believe that preparation of materials for the labs and daily plan of activities (lesson plans) will be part of the duties I plan to use in the lab. I had several mentors in my professional life that helped me to get here, one of them was Dr. Tovar, a biologist who helped me to believe that I could take a challenge and get my dream job.

I am excited about my participation in the Nano RET program, the research that my mentor will share with me, opportunities to become a better teacher and get to meet new people. I like both coffee and tea. Lately, I became a tea person since I tasted my friend’s Chai tea with cardamom and ginger, changed my diet and started to drink more green tea and Macha tea. What will be challenging? The beginning is always challenging until I fully understand how everything works.