Spring Creek seventh-grade science teachers honored as UtSTA’s “Outstanding Science Middle School Department”

 

Spring Creek Middle School's 7th Grade Science Team

 

Picture a middle school science classroom. It probably involves dissecting frogs, competing in science fairs, and experimenting with natural forces like tornadoes and earthquakes. The seventh-grade science classrooms at Spring Creek Middle School do all of these and more. “We want our students to see our passion for science,” the seventh-grade team said. “We emphasize this through inquiry-based learning approaches, hands-on experiments, and real-world applications to foster student engagement and deeper understanding of scientific concepts.”

 

Karen Meritt teaches a student    Randi Phillips and student    Abbey Furse and student

 

Karen Merritt, who leads the team, also serves as our regional representative to the Utah Science Teaching Association. She was thrilled when principal Blair Powell nominated the team for the “Outstanding Middle School Science Department” award. Science is her “thing,” and across 28 years of teaching in six different grade levels, passion for science has remained a top teaching priority. Her team members, Abbey Furse and Randi Phillips, have each taught at Spring Creek for four years. Throughout that time, the three of them have formed a dynamic group that works together to spread engagement in science for students and colleagues. “We each teach differently,” Merritt said, “but we work together collaboratively as a team to create a supportive learning environment where students are engaged, challenged, and inspired to explore the wonders of science.” 

 

Spring Creek’s eighth-grade science team praised their colleagues. “This team develops highly capable science students,” they said. “The students can design science investigations, think deeply, and reason through new phenomena.” 

 

The three were recognized at the Utah Science Teacher Association awards and at a recent Cache County School District Board of Education meeting. Among the materials submitted to the awards committee was the teaching philosophy they strive to reach together. “By nurturing curiosity and critical-thinking skills,” they said, “our science department installs enthusiasm, passion, and a love of science in our students.”