Biology Teacher and UC High Teacher of the Year Dr. Sandra Mann will be retiring at the end of the 2012-2013 school year after teaching at UC High for 13 years.
Mann did research at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology before she became a secondary level teacher. “My original career goal was to be a professor, but when I started having kids and I realized to get a professorship I would have to be working 70 hours a week during research periods, I thought, ‘my kids are too important,’ so I became a research associate,” Mann explained.
Mann continued, “In 1996, I thought, ‘What do I really want to do when I grow up?’ I didn’t want to stay in the lab where I was, and I didn’t want to continue doing the kind of research I was doing, so I said, ‘I’ll go be a teacher,’ which was something I had actually had in the back of my mind when I was in graduate school.”
She then proceeded to teach at Gompers High School in Southern San Diego. Mann started teaching at UC High in September, 2000. Over the years she has seen many staff members come and go, as well as significant changes in the science curriculum.
Throughout her 13 years at UC High, Mann has taught regular, advanced, and Advanced Placement biology. She has also been the head coach of UC High’s Science Olympiad and Academic League teams. Her most memorable moment over the years was, “When Science Olympiad got second place at regionals, in 2005, losing only to Torrey Pines.”
“I’m really lucky, because I [got] to teach really smart kids. I loved teaching AP Biology because (continued on page 16) (continued from page 1) you could see the little light bulbs go off when kids got [the material] really quickly. I love doing
Science Olympiad, because I get to work with kids up to four years and watch them grow up, and these are really smart kids who like to learn, so it’s fun to teach them. I love doing Academic League because, again, I get to work with these kids for four years and they’re smart, fun and have a really good sense of humor,” Mann said.
According to Sophomore Zisi Komar, “Dr. Mann is a wonderful teacher. It amazes me how much she knows. She is so dedicated to helping her students succeed that she even takes time out of her schedule to help us review for the AP test after school. She has given me a passion for biology that I didn’t realize I had before. I am considering pursuing biology as a major in college!”
Junior Eric Chao said, “Dr. Mann’s stellar biology courses have impacted thousands of people over the years. Everyone I’ve spoken to agrees that her AP Biology course is one of the best taught courses in our school, perhaps even the best. She also opened up her house to us [for Science Olympiad and Academic League], even allowing us to build helicopters in her garage. Under her guidance and coaching, our Science Olympiad teams qualified for the annual state competition ___ years in a row. Thank you Dr. Mann, for being a teacher, a coach, and an inspiration.”
Mann said, “I’ll miss the interactions. I like high school kids, so I’m sure I’ll still do some coaching for Science Olympiad. I’m hoping to seek out some volunteer things, and I hope to work for Habitat for Humanity.” She added, “I won’t miss the grading. When I was thinking about whether I was really ready to retire, that’s really what put me over the edge. I just spend too much of my life grading, because I take it very seriously.”
Mann said she looks forward to “…having a lot more flexibility in my schedule, and not having to get up early in the morning. [My husband and I] are going to go [hike] the Israel National Trail, which is 600 miles, hopefully next fall. I have a whole bucket list — I want to hike in the Himalayas, Padagonia, and the Alps. We’re hoping to do a lot of traveling, just having new experiences and adventures.”