Andria Porch, middle school science teacher
Q: What were you doing before you started working at GCAA?
“I taught at CPA where I taught ACT math and public speaking and poetry I was also the A+ coordinator and the AP coordinator.”
Q: How was that experience different than GCAA?
“There [at CPA] I was teaching 11th and 12th graders and I think they’re easier to work with, they’re more motivated…8th grader’s don’t have the big picture yet. Some of my 8th graders are really great and some of them…that motivation.”
Q: What is something that you want people to know about you?
“I love science, I went to Missouri S&T, I am a grandma, I have 7 grand kids, I’ve been married 37 years…My husband is a Methodist pastor, I raised my kids in south city we lived there for 12 years. My dad was in the air force.”
Q: What intrigues you most about science?
“There’s always more to learn, and it’s fact based, where English has all these rules and there’s exceptions, and you have to be able to spell…I’m certified for ten different subject areas so I was going to teach English at CPA this year with freshmen world history, but science is my favorite subject…I was asked to teach science here I said yes right away, I switched schools two days before school started.”
Q: What’s your long-term goal for your students or class?
“I want them to do well on the MAP and the national science test…I want them to learn to love science…I may achieve that with some kids but not all of them, but it’s cool to learn how the world works on a macro and micro level.”
Q: What are you looking forward to at GCAA?
“Getting kids as excited about learning as I can some of them already have a bad attitude about science..I also love the arts. I was in theatre in college, I did acting, and I painted the sets. I go to the Muny in the summer, I go to all the art museum exhibitions, I love the arts. My mother was an art teacher, my father was a science teacher, and I just grew up with…the arts.”
Q: What motivates you?
“I’m called to teach I can think of a lot of jobs that would be easier but I’ve always loved to teach.”