Marie, Science Teacher, Wilson High School

           I was interviewing three Wilson freshmen when their teacher, Ms. Gibson, walked by. "Interveiw our teacher!" one of them urged me. "She's actually good! She doesn't suck!" Ms. Gibson was happy to talk, and the freshman skated away.

Ms. Gibson was adamant that her picture be "a side shot."

         
        “I’m Marie Gibson and I’m a teacher at Wilson. I teach science- biology, earth science, environmental science, a bunch of things. I’ve been teaching quite a while, I’ll just say that. I like my job. I always wanted to be a teacher.

            When I was a teenager, I kind of saw myself as a teacher, and it actually did happen. As a student in high school I was more along the lines of… a nerd. As opposed to being one that was in with everybody as far as a crowd and doing what everybody wanted to do. I was kind of a study person. And I’m still about the same today. I’m pretty happy with that.

            My advice to kids in high school is to be true to yourself. Listen to those who are your parents, adults and so forth. They’re going to give you advice, and see where it fits in your life. You’re going to use something, but definitely know that your strongest background is probably going to come from those who have been closest to you and have really had an impression on you. Your teachers from elementary school, kindergarten, your parents, your aunts, your uncles, your grandparents and all. That’s that backing that’s going to follow you and steady you and add a level of sturdiness.

             You’re gonna go though things- I usually tell students, “trust me, you’re going to go off to college, and you’re going to do some crazy things. Just make sure you do something you can bounce back from.”

            I ask her if she’s had the chance to be one of those stable forces in her students’ lives.

            “Ohh yeah. Oh yeah. And they tend to call back. A lot. And I give ‘em advice and help ‘em as best I can.

            I really like what I do as a teacher. Teaching is fun. It’s almost like… a lot of times you have to put yourself in children’s places and figure out ‘well, why did this happen?’ or ‘why would they respond like this? How would I have responded?’ And that keeps you focused on what’s really important and what you need to do.

            Children today are very different than ones I’ve taught earlier, and definitely from me. But children are children, they’re gonna be kids. They’re gonna make mistakes, and they’re gonna learn. It’s a good thing. It’s a good thing. You gotta sulk for a little bit. Sulk for a little bit, but don’t stay there. You gotta get up and get going.

        I’m really, this year, pushing my kids to not wimp out before the end. The end is the day I give you the final exam. You’ve got all the projects you need to do. Do ‘em. Get started! And they’re living up to it, I must admit. I gave a project to ecology where they had to go and research information on a plant and an animal in a certain biome or acquatic environment. And out of 120 projects, all on powerpoints- I got 106 back. And this is towards the end of the year! 106 back! I’m joyful. That’s really good. If only machines worked that good!" She laughs.