The Newest Chemistry Teacher!

This year, Silver Creek welcomed several new teachers with open arms (or wings). One of those teachers is Rachel Turner, who is the new chemistry and astronomy/geology teacher! Mrs. Turner is extremely passionate about what she does, teaching and more! She is excited to start the year with the new environment.

Rachel Turner has been teaching for ten years. She got her undergrad at a small college in South Dakota called Augustana University before going to the University of South Dakota for her masters. After that, Turner started teaching high school chemistry. Through the years, she’s taught regular chemistry, AP (Advanced Placement) Chemistry, and has also educated immigrants on chemistry. For such an avid chemist, Turner has a simple reason for her chemistry with chemistry.
She says that she is so interested in chemistry because “It’s fun to understand where everything in our world comes from.”

Turner’s goal at Creek is to help her students the best that she can. She is a passionate educator and says that “[I] want to be a teacher to help students navigate life through high school… at Silver Creek I want to get to know the students and find out where I can help.”

Turner’s curiosity doesn’t stop with chemistry. She is also teaching the new Astronomy and Geology class this year. Although it isn’t quite where her expertise lies, she is open to the challenge.
“It’s my first time teaching astronomy but it’s so fascinating… there’s endless things to learn about,” says Turner eagerly. Turner’s positive outlook on these new experiences should be a beacon of inspiration for those of us who are unsure about trying new things.

Turner considers her teaching style to be “old school” but she likes to take it slow with paper-based assignments and a lot of class discussions. She doesn’t want to overload students with information, especially in more complex subjects like chemistry.
One student who is in Turner’s Astrology and Geology class was especially fond of an Astronomy based art project that they did as an assessment. Not only is art an engaging way for students to learn but having an art based assessment is a lot more relaxed. According to the AMA Journal Of Ethics, “The arts have the potential to generate statements and insights that cannot be expressed, documented, or shared in other forms,” Due to this reason, art in assessments promote deeper understanding and expression in a typical environment.

Like all teachers, Mrs. Turner has a life outside of school. Even though she’s only lived in Colorado for a month or so, she says that it is a lot like her home state, Wyoming. Turner likes to fish and golf in her spare time and will occasionally golf with her husband. She also likes to take her one year old son to various parks. With her active lifestyle, Mrs. Turner definitely will find fun here in Colorado!

Silver Creek is happy to welcome Rachel Turner to the Creek family and can’t wait to see the great things that she will do.