Carson City teacher enjoys making science fun

Eagle Valley Middle School science teacher Eric Anderson didn't plan on spending his workdays in a classroom. But now that he's there, he can't imagine why he'd want to be anywhere else.

Originally a music major in college, and then a geology major, Anderson was debating between a career in photography or giving teaching a try. With a wife and new baby to help support, teaching won out for economic reasons, Anderson said.

"I started taking education courses and working with kids, and it was like I'd been bitten by a bug," Anderson said. "Teaching was the coolest thing. I am totally addicted to seeing the light going on in kids'eyes."

Anderson apparently made the right choice in careers—a lot of people, including the Milken Foundation, seem to think so.

This year Anderson became the third Carson City teacher to win the prestigious Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award, which includes a $25,000 cash award. An independent Blue Ribbon Committee appointed by each state's department of education selects recipients of the award.

Criteria include distinguished achievement in developing innovative curricula, outstanding ability to instill students with sound values and commitment to professional development and excellence.

Innovative and outstanding are two adjectives often used to describe Anderson. And while his students may use different terms, the sentiment is the same.

"He makes science fun," said Mike Dittenber, 14.

"He's really funny and a good teacher," said Cassia Roth, 13. "He makes things interesting."

Victor Morrow, 13, said: "He's a great teacher. He makes science fun because we get to do a lot of hands-on activities."

Kayla Garcia, 13, agrees "He's a good teacher, and I think it's good that he makes a lot of j okes in class because that makes learning more interesting and fun."

Anderson wears loud ties (or one with the periodic table printed on it) and neon-colored or tie-dyed lab coats with buttons saying such things as: "Why yes, I am a rocket scientist." He keeps a friendly banter going with the kids as he teaches and never misses a chance for a lighthearted jab.

While preparing to do a lab with the students, Anderson was delivering the usual safety warnings , when one student asked what would happen if he breathed the vapors from the experiment. The vapor was harmless, Anderson told him, then added: "If you breathe it and you start to mutate, call me over for extra credit."

The class goes quickly, and the students linger after the bell rings. As they file out, many of them stop to ask questions about the experiment just performed. There are a lot of"what ifs" and "whys" included in those questions.

Anderson beams.

"These are just the kind of questions I want to hear," he says. "It shows they're thinking."

Anderson grew up in Tucson, Ariz., and went to school in Flagstaff. His first teaching assignment was in Wickenburg, Ariz., but he soon transferred to Las Vegas. He thought he would never leave.

"I knew this was the place I wanted to be," he said. "As a new teacher, it appealed to me to be able to go into a place that had all the bells and whistles, and I was in awe of the wonderful, veteran science teachers there.

"The six years I spent there did a lot to foster my growth as a teacher."

Then Anderson got an invitation to apply for the job of state science education consultant for the Nevada Department of Education. He didn't think he'd get the job, but the offer interested him enough to respond.

"I thought it could be a good chance to tell the state people what direction I thought science teachers should go," he remembered.

He got the job and set about establishing the new science standards recently adopted by the Department of Education.

"This state was all over the map in terms of what school districts were teaching in the classrooms," he said. "There were some districts doing nothing but lectures. I think if kids are not doing labs, they're not doing science. The emphasis is on the doing.

"I want to see that kids in Battle Mountain have the same opportunities as kids in Vegas."

Anderson worked for the state in Carson City from 1996 to 1998. When it came time to go back to the classroom, he went directly to Eagle Valley Middle School, where some of his children went to school.

"Eagle Valley is an awesome school, and this is a wonderful district to work for," Anderson said. "I've had zero bad experiences with any teachers, principals or anyone in the district office.''

And he enjoys his time in the classroom as much as ever. "Fun is in my nature," he said. "I am a little bit of a goof-off. After you've worked with eighth-graders you've got a one-liner for everything.

"But fun is not the only thing we're doing. You can't get to the depth of understanding if you don't talk afterward. We talk. And they're not just talking to me about what we've done—they're talking to each other."

Anderson gives all the credit for his success and happiness to his wife of 16 years, Mara. "If anybody is responsible for my success, it's her," he said. "I go to school at 6 a.m. and get home at 5 p.m. Then, after dinner, I grade papers for two hours. That can be a real burden on a partner. I owe her a lot. I couldn't do what I've done without her support."

And from now on, Anderson says, the classroom will be his second home.

"I love what I do. I can't imagine anything pulling me out of the classroom now."