Educator Profile    Educators

Biographical Information

Not only is Steven Scoville a science enthusiast, but this educator also loves cartooning and art. He combines these passions with physics to build murals and mosaics that hang around the city. Scoville and his students even teamed with Carnegie Mellon University School of Design to produce large mosaics for a local grocery store.

Scoville’s curriculum arms students with valuable skills that will form their future paths. He employs an inquiry-based teaching style that encourages students to think like scientists as they investigate the topic, discuss the findings, draw conclusions and then state what they are learning. Scoville uses technology, including a website that contains high-speed photography, and challenges pupils to answer their own queries. Additionally, he advises student research projects on scientific topics. In the spirit of a dissertation, students make oral presentations and defend their research before the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science.

Scoville’s leadership abilities span a wide array of roles from school to state levels. National Board Certified, he participated in the Teacher Leadership Academy, where he researched “science as inquiry” and presented on the topic. As a fellow at the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute, he developed a “High School Cosmology Project” unit. Scoville also serves on the Steering Committee for the opening of the new Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy for grades 6 to 12. Moreover, he is a clinic instructor and role- model for new teachers, especially those in science.

Personal Message

I am honored to be included in this group of educators. When I look around my school, when I see what other districts are doing for their students, when I contemplate the efforts that all American educators are investing the children I am surprised that I was ever even nominated as an outstanding teacher. I see teachers who care just as much as I do about their students, teachers who put in just as much effort as I do into their lessons, who dedicate just as much of their lives to their profession as I do - just as much and more. One of my primary interests as a high school teacher is the difficult problem of ensuring quality instruction in each and every classroom while still allowing teachers to infuse their own lessons with the passion and personality that led them to become teachers in the first place. Many teachers that work in the context of a managed curriculum have relinquished ownership of what they teach, suppressing their professional judgement for fear of being punished for any deviations from what is mandated. Districts and administrations should put their trust in those that they have hired, supporting and correcting when needed, to do the job of connecting with students and showing them how to grow into society. Teachers, however, also bear the responsibility of knowing their own role in the broader academic structure of the district - all the way from elementary through college. In addition, teachers must be willing and able to make pedagogical choices that are based on research, information from their classroom and their own expertise in their field of instruction. I am looking forward to hearing from other educators and learning from anyone who is willing to share thoughts and experiences!