El Molino biology teacher gains national recognition

Descriptors like “enthusiastic” and “energetic” are written over
and over in letters recommending El Molino High School science
teacher Joan Vreeburg for a national award.
But if the letters hadn’t sold her to the California Chapter of
the National Association of Biology Teachers, a two-minute
conversation with the dynamo would have likely sealed the deal.
“My goal in life is to inspire students to pursue a science
career. America needs lots of scientists,” said Vreeburg who is
known for bringing scientists into her classroom to be guest
lecturers, and for taking her students on field trips to places
like the Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, the Buck Institute, the
Joint Genome Institute, Genentech, UCSF Medical School, UC Davis,
and the Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
“I love my students and I still love to teach science. I am not
burned out,” said Vreeburg, who has been teaching biology 28 years
at Forestville’s high school and was just named the 2010
Outstanding Biology Teacher by the NABT. She will be honored at a
national conference in Minneapolis in November.
“I think of her as the teacher at El Molino High School who
makes science come alive for her students, makes them want to know
more, and makes them want to pursue science in college as a
career,” Dr. Victor Chow, education and outreach manager at the
Bodega Marine Laboratory wrote to the selection committee.
Dr. William Bennett, associate research ecologist, also with the
Bodega Marine Laboratory, also spoke highly of Vreeburg in his
letter of recommendation. “I was initially somewhat suspicious,”
Bennett said, referring to when he met Vreeburg at his son’s open
house. “Here was this well-dressed biology teacher who during her
presentation, simply gushed with enthusiasm, energy, and warmth; as
a career academic and parent, I’d never seen anyone like Joan
before. I was soon to realize she was quite serious; Joan is
extremely bright, and her lecture materials and lab exercises
exceptionally well organized,” he said.
Vreeburg also “single-handedly” developed a “sophisticated and
well-respected” biotechnology program at El Molino, Bennett
added.
While the district is supportive of the biotechnology class –
where students can earn college credits – there is no money in the
budget for it, said Vreeburg who found a way to make it happen
anyway. The Sonoma County Office of Education’s Regional
Occupational Program pays her salary for this particular section
(which is separate from the biology classes she teaches), and she
raised money for the “very expensive” associated equipment through
grant writing.
“Joan is a very innovative teacher. Biotechnology was unheard in
high school science courses only 10 or 15 years ago,” said West
Sonoma County Union High School District Superintendent Keller
McDonald. “Joan puts her students on the cutting edge by bringing
them in contact with biotechnology professionals in industry,
higher education and research across northern California.”
She uses the study of biotechnology to capture her students’
interest and imagination, McDonald said. Her students use the same
techniques and equipment used in real-world laboratories to grow
and study fungi and bacteria, extract and isolate cellular
material, and investigate biology on the cellular level, he said,
noting, students who complete her biotechnology course have skills
equivalent to those of a college biotechnology student and can
“completely function at an entry level” in the biotechnology
industry.
Vreeburg also stresses lab safety and scientific ethics and
responsibility, the superintendent said.
“She has high expectations of her students, and they rise to
meet those expectations,” McDonald said. “We are very fortunate to
have Joan Vreeburg teaching and inspiring our West Sonoma County
students.”
Not only does she love to teach, Vreeburg loves to learn new
science and to constantly update her knowledge, which is why she
continually goes to science workshops and conferences, and has many
connections with universities and professors and with the
biotechnology industry. “Most of the things I am doing and teaching
didn’t exist when I was in college. So I just went to all these
institutes and trained over the last 10 years,” she said.