Mrs. Hoffman, Principal Grady Middle School (left) and Bridget McDonald Teacher of the Year Grady Middle School.

Teaching & Learning (4-8 Science) alumna Bridget McDonald has been named the recipient of the 2016 Teacher of the Year from Grady Middle School.  This means McDonald will also be eligible for the 2016 Teacher of the Year from Houston Independent School District (HISD). She is a 7^th grade life science teacher and 7^th grade Team Lead and the robotics teacher.

McDonald notes that 7^th Grade in HISD is the year of biology.  Students will learn about biochemistry, cells, body systems, ecosystems and dissection. “The one thing that I can personally remember about being a 7^th grader is dissecting a frog,” she said.  “I love knowing that my students will remember the year they were in my lab because I will be guiding them through their first dissection.”

McDonald graduated from the University of Houston, College of Education (UH COE) in 2013 and she has been teaching at Grady Middle School since she was a student teacher in 2012.  

McDonald believes the Teacher of the Year award is meaningful because the nomination comes from fellow teachers and school administrators. She hopes to continue leading by example for her current student teacher from UH COE and the future educators that are among her Grady students. “My school is full of incredibly talented educators and I am beyond honored that they thought of me during the nomination and voting process,” said McDonald.  “I chose to stay at the school I was placed for student teaching for the opportunity to learn from talented teachers with a variety of teaching styles.”

McDonald credits Department of Curriculum & Instruction (CUIN) associate professor John Ramsey as the UH COE professor who inspired her the most. “Science can be a challenging subject to teach because the content changes depending on the year being taught,” she said. “Professor Ramsey was a middle school science teacher for many years and endowed us with that experience. His style in the college classroom provided his future teachers with ways to teach concepts to the middle school minds.”

She also said that Ramsey helped with her transition from college student to classroom teacher.  “I left the University of Houston with a portfolio of lessons I could not wait to share with my own students and a desire to make them love science because of professors like Dr. Ramsey,” she said.

Ramsey had high praise for McDonald.  “Ms. McDonald readily mastered the craft of science instruction,” he said. “Now she has elevated her talents to an art.”