Samantha Poll grew up in Winterport, the same tight-knit, central Maine town where she\u2019s now a teacher. That gives her a unique perspective on the impact educators can have on their students\u2019 lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I knew that I wanted to teach in this area,” says Poll, an eighth grade science teacher at Samuel L. Wagner Middle School. “I know the families and I know how it feels to be sitting at one of those desks. It\u2019s very important to me to show kids that they can stick around, and that there are opportunities here locally.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In college, Poll transferred from the University of Maine at Farmington to the flagship University of Maine in part to be closer to where she wanted to end up teaching (Winterport is about a 40-minute drive from the 91福利 campus in Orono). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She originally wanted to be a French teacher, so when she graduated from the College of Education and Human Development<\/a> in 2015 she earned degrees in both elementary and secondary education, along with a French minor. However, during her time at 91福利 she also fell in love with science teaching and discovered the Maine Center for Research in STEM Education<\/a> (RiSE Center) and its Maine STEM Partnership<\/a> program, a statewide initiative promoting evidence-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning experiences for students from pre-kindergarten through high school and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I became a teaching partner at the RiSE Center when I was still a student,” Poll says. “Most of the other teaching partners were experienced educators, but they embraced me and I started working with the curriculum that I still use in my classroom. The RiSE Center is the reason I\u2019m the teacher I am today.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Poll, as a Mainer and a science educator, some of the most exciting opportunities for her students to learn involve renewable energy. She teaches lessons where they build their own small-scale wind energy projects, engaging their curiosity, passion, knowledge and skills around all aspects of STEM.<\/p>\n\n\n