Cool Teacher: Berkeley Middle School’s Amy Adams

She spent more than two decades working in the science industry, either as a chemist in a lab or in a management role.

Now Berkeley Middle School teacher Mrs. Amy Adams is using her science skills in a different environment. She decided to mix things up a bit and came up with a winning formula to help make a difference in the classroom. Mrs. Amy Adams is our Cool School teacher of the week.

After twenty-one years, Berkeley Middle School science teacher Mrs. Amy Adams traded an industry laboratory for another controlled setting, a classroom. “I was a chemist and worked my way up,” said Adams.  

She took a couple of years off after she had children.  While volunteering at her kids’ school, she fell in love with education. Adams says, “This is where I am supposed to be. I just kept feeling unsettled.  I loved my job. I loved the people I worked with, but it wasn’t where I was supposed to be, so finally, I just turned in my notice.”

Adams says she stepped out on faith, and the rest is history, well actually it’s science.  She’s now in year six of teaching seventh-grade science at BMS. “This is where I went to school.  I walked the halls of Berkeley Middle. All four of my children walked the halls. My youngest is walking the halls of Berkeley Middle now. It’s just home,” Adams said.

Adams describes her teaching style as interactive.  She says, “I want them to have a voice. I want them to learn critical thinking. I want them to talk and be able to express back and forth. So we have a lot of different activities. Sometimes it’s note-taking, sometimes it’s worksheets, sometimes it’s doing DNA extractions on a strawberry, or making turkeys that go down a zip line, or dissecting frogs. It is interactive. I want them to learn. I want them to enjoy science.”  

“I think it’s cool. It’s definitely a new experience. She’s really good at teaching. I think she belongs here. She’s a great teacher. I love learning from her,” said seventh-grade student Connor Giggi.

Mrs. Adams is also in charge of the school’s renaissance program which recognizes all students.  LaTanya Butler is principal at BMS.

She says, “She was in the science industry, and I think that’s also unique too because she can put a practical skill on the concepts that she teaches. How does this relate to real life and that’s also one of the great attributes to have in a teacher.”

Butler says Mrs. Adams also pushed to add an additional day to her work week.  “Mrs. Adams works on Saturdays here. I’ve had to open the building at her request after multiple requests, so she can work six days a week because that’s just the kind of attitude she has, to go over and beyond for our students here at Berkeley Middle School. She lobbied for weeks.  She was like Mrs. Butler I’m going to work.  Ms. Adams is so unique. She asked me in the summertime, you want me to get math certified so I can teach math too? That’s the kind of spirit Mrs. Adams has.  I just appreciate Mrs. Adams for hearing the call to come to education.  If I could clone Mrs. Adams fifty more times, not only Berkeley Middle but schools, in general, would benefit from that spirit of dedication.”

When asked if she misses working in the industry, Mrs. Adams says, “No, this is where I’m supposed to be. This is where I’m supposed to be.  I love it. I will tell you I work harder now than I ever did, that I’m more tired now than I ever was, but I absolutely have such joy, and I love what I do, and I feel like what I’m doing makes a difference.  Don’t always feel it in the day-to-day workings of the classroom, sometimes it’s very frustrating, but I love my job. I’m excited to come to work every day. I can’t imagine not being here.”

If you would like to nominate a Cool School or educator, send an email to Octavia Mitchell at [email protected].