I’m an Illinois native who moved to California for the outdoor life. Three terrific college professors steered me away from psychology and toward chemistry, and I’ve never looked back. Before teaching, I worked with young people in several settings, including foster care and juvenile detention. I’ve now spent 20 years teaching high school chemistry, and I’m still looking for practical ways to make the subject clear, hands-on, and engaging. I joined this group to learn from other teachers, share resources, and trade honest advice about instruction, classroom management, assessment, and student engagement.