“I am excited about Ms. Schweitzer coming to Italy HS. She is going to bring an enthusiastic approach to the upper level science classes. She is also working on a masters degree in science. We hope to have her teaching college level biology in the future. She is going to be a great addition to the science department,” IHS Principal Lee Joffre said.

Grace Schweitzer is coming to Italy High School in August as the new high school science teacher. She has an obviously curious name but not knowing if she is related to the famous Nobel Peace Prize recipient, she does have a few things in common with the good doctor. Grace has a drive inside of her that resembles the French philosopher and physician. They both share education and being a scholar. They share a passion for teaching and Grace has plans of transferring that excitement to Italy’s students.

A little background of Ms. Schweitzer explains some of who she is and why she is so excited about science. "I was born in San Antonio, Texas and have a great older sister, Mandi. When I was 7 years old, my dad’s job was transferred to Coppell where we lived for two years. Then another move to Chicago, Illinois and lived there 4 years. Chicago was too cold for me! I am a Texas girl! I was very happy when my dad’s job relocated us once again back to Texas. I went to both middle school and high school in Southlake, Texas. While at Southlake Carroll, I was part of a specialized advanced science curriculum called the “Carroll Medical Academy” (CMA). CMA is an amazing program that gave me the opportunity to take extra science courses such as Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Terminology, Biotechnology and AP Biology. The most unique and beneficial aspect of CMA is the internships! I was fortunate enough to be able work with several physicians, observe surgeries in the operation room and shadow a Physicians Assistant seeing patients. I loved CMA and really excelled in it. CMA is where my passion grew for science! I graduated with honors."

CMA kept Grace busy in high school and she was involved with the CMA Student Board of Directors in the position of Secretary. Other than that, she played basketball and participated in Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

When asked why she wanted to become a teacher, Ms. Schweitzer explained, “All through CMA, I thought I wanted to be a doctor. Since I loved biology so much I majored in it. Although I loved biology, I wasn’t feeling very passionate about actually being a doctor. During my sophomore year of college, I took a Genetics class where several of my classmates were having difficulty learning the material. I would go to all of the professor’s office hours to get a better explanation of the lesson as well as teach myself from the book. Then I would rent out a study room in the campus library and tell the other students in the class to meet me there and then I would teach them the material they were struggling with. I discovered that I absolutely loved teaching them and the joy of helping the students feel more confident about a difficult class brought me great personal satisfaction. I knew then that teaching is what I’m meant to do.”

Grace majored in Biology at Texas A&M University and graduated in 3 years with a B.S. degree in Biology with a 3.9 GPA. Throughout college she was very involved with her church. She served with the youth group as well as with the media team and loved it. She currently is taking summer graduate classes at A&M to get her Masters Degree in Education. She will complete the degree in August 2014.

“I am so excited to be teaching science this year! My plan is to make every day interesting! I want my passion for science to rub off on the students. My classes are going to be very hands-on and fun,” Schweitzer said.

She, Mrs. Thompson and Ms. Hewett have already met and are excited to work together to build an amazon curriculum that will teach the student most effectively. “I am very grateful to be part of such a great team,” she explained.

One tiny little thing Albert does not have in common with Ms. Schweitzer is she ended the interview with, “Gig’em!”

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
― Albert Schweitzer