For the 2021-2022 school year, the Jackson Prep Science Department has gained a new teacher, Ms. Sarah Shaw. This Prep graduate from the class of 2000 (and former opinion editor of The Sentry) has always had a passion for science ever since her elementary school years, so much so that she obtained a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering from Mississippi State University and then went on to achieve her master’s in physics education from the University of Virginia. 

What interested Ms. Shaw in each scientific branch was all the questions and explanations that come with the subject. Her mindset remains the same today. In her opinion, what was the most interesting or important thing about her subject area, Shaw stated, “It helps us explain how the world works,” and that “science always grows and you are constantly able to develop and explore new things.” 

Ms. Shaw has definitely explored her passions for science by teaching each branch of the subject, her favorite being Chemistry and Physics, which she now teaches at Prep. For many students, science can be a very interesting and vital subject for their interest and others not so much. But for Shaw, her teaching methods consist of very hands-on activities and guided inquiry throughout the class with lectures in the remaining portion of the bin. She believes this to be most effective with science because as she says, “Chemistry can be so abstract.”