This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Burroughs Science Teacher Wins Prestigious Award

Margaret Bahe, head of the science department, recognized for excellence in teaching.

John Burroughs School's Margaret Bahe, head of the science department was recently honored for her accomplishments as an educator.

Bahe won the St. Louis Science Center and Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics award. It was established in 1996 and endowed in 2002 with a gift from Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb, stated documentation provided by the St. Louis Science Center. The award honors “effective teaching as a component of quality education,” the document said. 

“I was very excited,” Bahe said. “I think it’s really nice when teachers get recognition for what they do every single day. Teachers work really, really hard at what they do. Our rewards come in many ways. One of them is working with our students on a regular basis and seeing them progress, and another is to get this type of recognition. What we do changes lives.”  

Bahe was nominated for the award by John Burroughs head master Andy Abbott, she said. After the nomination, John Burroughs’ students, faculty, and parents wrote letters of recommendation on why she should win the award. Bahe and the other nominees had to teach a small science class in front of the committee that selected the winner of the award, Bahe said. She gave a lecture on how plants transplant water, the same subject Bahe lectured freshmen on that week.

The committee announced the John Burroughs teacher won the award on May 10 when Bahe was on a field trip with freshmen biology students in the Ozark Mountains, she said.  The award-winning educator left the camp on Monday night to make a trip to the science center to accept the award.

“I try to stress the interaction which goes on between teacher and student and student and student,” Bahe said about her style. “It’s not me presenting information. It’s me acting as a guide. I help them think about a subject and ask questions. I want there to be a lot of give-and-take between teacher and student as we move through ideas.”

Bahe started teaching science at John Burroughs in 1979. She was appointed head of the science department 10 years ago.

“I had no idea when I started here that I would make this my career,” she said. “John Burroughs is an excellent place to teach. They give the teachers a lot of autonomy. We have the ability to be creative with our students, and there’s not a lot of bureaucracy.”







       

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Ladue-Frontenac