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Livingston's Teachers of the Year Winnie Killebrew "Actually Doing Stuff" With Students at Denham Springs High School Key to Keeping Them Interested

Posted on: Monday, 8 November 2004, 15:00 CST

DENHAM SPRINGS - Winnie Killebrew always knew she would be a biology teacher.

The Livingston Parish School System high school Teacher of the Year said she used to wonder why she had to spend so much time in chemistry classes in college.

She discovered the answer when she accepted her first teaching job 31 years ago - as a chemistry teacher at Denham Springs High School. She has taught chemistry at the school every year since.

"I had to go back and learn all this chemistry so I could teach it," she said. "It made me a better teacher, actually."

Killebrew said she enjoys working with teen-agers because they are old enough to joke around with but mature enough to know when to settle down and work.

On a recent day, Killebrew taught students the difference between pure substances and mixtures by having them soak colored candy in highly diluted sulfuric acid.

The students then placed the dissolved dye on chromatography paper that separated the dye into individual pigments. For example, pure substances in the experiment are primary colors, such as blue and yellow, because they would not separate. Green substances, which separated into blue and yellow, are mixtures of pure substances.

Handing out tiny bags of M&M and Skittles candies, Killebrew said, "If there are extras, y'all just have to think of a creative way to get rid of them."

Glancing around the room, she added, "And I know all of y'all are not leaning on the lab tables."

Impatient to begin the experiment, Tasha Brown, 17, urged Killebrew to continue distributing the candy: "C'mon Mrs. Killebrew. We need our Skittles."

Brown then turned to her lab partner Ian Burks, 16, and said: "She gets aggravated with us."

Killebrew does get irritated when her students forget to put on their safety goggles in the lab. She stayed on them to keep the plastic eyewear on, no matter what it did to their hair.

Killebrew uses demonstrations and experiments as the centerpiece of her lessons. Her job, she said, is to provide the information in an interesting way to her students. She looks for activities that will engross them and then builds science lessons around those activities.

"If it spews out all over the place, it catches their attention," Killebrew said.

Her students credit the hands-on weekly laboratory activities to her effectiveness.

"She doesn't just give book work," said Adam Felder, 17. "She actually does stuff with you."

Killebrew's playful, laid-back nature, mixed with a concealed structure, appeals to her students, according to the sophomores and juniors in her chemistry classes.

Killebrew, however, described herself as a "friendly teacher" but not their friend.

"There is a division. You cannot get too close because you will not be an effective teacher," she said.

Assistant Principal Kathy de Generes said Killebrew's colleagues nominated her as the high school Teacher of the Year because she will pitch in to help others, whether it involves the science department or not.

At age 53, Killebrew said she will stay in the classroom as long as she believes she is contributing and is still healthy.

"Me? Retiring soon?" Killebrew said. "Right now, I still enjoy it. I can see myself retiring because there are some things I'd like to do. But not soon."

"Maybe if they keep adding more and more paperwork ..." she added.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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