Massachusetts General Science 5-8 Licensure Pathway
Private Science Tutoring & Mentoring
Need middle school science tutoring support?
I offer one-on-one middle school science tutoring and academic mentoring for students who need stronger science understanding, more confidence, better study habits, or more tailored support than a busy classroom can always provide.
Grades 5-8 Science
Life science, ecosystems, Earth and space science, physical science, engineering design, vocabulary, homework, and MCAS-style reasoning.
Scientist-Led Mentoring
Real-world examples from microbiology, optics, automation, medical devices, UV light, experimentation, and evidence-based problem solving.
Student-Centered Support
Calm coaching for confidence, executive function, organization, communication, frustration recovery, IEP/504 awareness, and study habits.
When enough preparation time is available, I can design interactive explanations, visual models, practice materials, vocabulary supports, and structured checks for understanding around the student's current classwork and goals.
As a GS-13 biologist with deployments across the NIH, CDC, DOD, and EPA, I bring demonstrable, 21st-century Science, Technology, and Engineering (STE) practices directly into the classroom. My instruction is anchored by over 168 university credits in the natural and health sciences and by practical work in optical systems, automation, microbiology, medical-device development, grant writing, and research-team leadership.
"Not everyone comes equipped with every skill for the classroom. As a young learner who utilized an IEP, I understand that learning can be daunting. I am a steadfast, patient, and sympathetic coach dedicated to equitable outcomes."
My mission is to close the achievement gap through rigorous, inquiry-based learning, careful formative assessment, English Language Development (ELD) integration, and calm classroom systems. I want students to experience science as something they can touch, test, build, measure, argue from evidence, and eventually imagine themselves doing.
Instructional & Mentorship Experience
7th Grade Science Teacher
Emily G. Wetherbee School / Lawrence Public Schools; Southbridge licensure pathway materials
Designed and delivered NGSS/DESE standards-aligned science curriculum (e.g., 7.MS-ESS1-2, 8.MS-LS4-4).
Utilized the 5-step KnowAtom Framework (Engage, Explore, Explain, Engineer, Evaluate) to scaffold complex scientific discourse.
Integrated explicit language/content scaffolds for multilingual learners and students with IEPs/504s to ensure equitable access to rigorous materials.
Orchestrated routine data protocols to track student growth within the 1st-40th NWEA percentiles.
Improved classroom engagement and attendance consistency through a structured System Navigator leaderboard and title-award framework, reducing chronic absenteeism to near zero and supporting multiple perfect-attendance outcomes.
Microbiology Laboratory Instructor
Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
Taught rigorous, clinical-grade microbiology laboratory procedures to nursing and public health students.
Bridged the gap between theoretical bacteriology and practical, clinical execution.
Speaker's Bureau Member & Mentor
American College for Microbiology
Served pro bono publico to guide and mentor young graduate scientists (M.S. and Ph.D. candidates).
Advised on career trajectories, translational research, and professional development in the biological sciences.
Curriculum Design & Execution
Demonstrating the translation of state standards into scaffolded, DOK-scaled instruction using the "I Do, We Do, You Do" gradual release model.
Case Study A: 8th Grade Natural Selection (8.MS-LS4-4)
The Narrative Hook
Students analyze historic Peppered Moth population data via a highly accessible "Survival Game" framework (Variation → Selective Pressure → Differential Survival → Population Shift).
Assessment Strategy
Continuous progress checks moving from DOK 1 (recall terms) to DOK 3 (predicting population shifts) culminating in MCAS-aligned Exit Tickets.
DOK 4 Extension: Applying the moth framework to an entirely new biological system—hospital antibiotic resistance—to connect classroom science to real-world public health.
Case Study B: 6th Grade Ecosystem Dynamics (6.MS-LS2-3)
System Modeling
Introducing the "Energy Highway," visualizing how thermodynamic energy flows directionally from producers to consumers while biological matter cycles.
Language Integration
Heavy utilization of causal sentence frames (If/Then/Because) for ELL students to articulate complex systemic disturbances.
Synthesizing Equilibrium: Instructing students to predict cascading population effects caused by apex predator removal or toxic disturbances (e.g., The Toad Scenario).
My classroom approach is school-policy aligned: clear routines, warm accountability, structured inquiry, and frequent formative checks. I use science as a system students can enter step by step—first through accessible language and models, then through evidence, argumentation, and real-world transfer.
Warm accountability: Predictable expectations, calm redirection, and positive reinforcement tied to the school's existing culture and behavior systems.
Participation architecture: Entry tickets, checkpoints, collaborative roles, and accountable talk routines give hesitant learners safe ways to engage.
Gamified motivation when appropriate: Optional point/voucher systems can reinforce preparation, kindness, academic risk-taking, and team contribution while remaining subordinate to district policy.
KnowAtom / MA STE alignment: Lesson pacing built around phenomenon, investigation, evidence, engineering, and evaluation.
Language access: Sentence frames, vocabulary previews, visual models, and ELL-aware reading supports for multilingual learners.
DOK progression: Students move from recall and vocabulary to modeling, explanation, prediction, and transfer across systems.
RTI/MTSS mindset: Formative data guides reteaching, scaffolding, and extension rather than becoming an after-the-fact score record.
Planning artifacts: Unit pacing guides, learning and language objectives, DOK/QTEL scaffolds, and assessment rubrics.
My teacher-preparation materials emphasize a practical classroom model: predictable routines, restorative language, de-escalation before escalation, scaffolded academic discourse, and differentiated access for students with IEPs, 504 plans, multilingual needs, and varied confidence levels. The goal is not to dilute science; it is to build enough structure that every student can participate in rigorous science.
Classroom Management
Clear entry routines, visible expectations, calm redirection, restorative follow-up, and consistent consequences aligned with district policy and school culture.
SEL & Belonging
Warm accountability, student dignity, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and psychologically safe ways for hesitant learners to join the scientific conversation.
Scaffolding & MTSS
Vocabulary previews, sentence frames, visual models, gradual release, formative checks, reteaching loops, and extension tasks for students ready for deeper transfer.
Community-Connected STE & Grant Development
A major strength I can offer a school district is the ability to connect classroom science with local needs, external partners, and fundable STE opportunities. I am willing to help generate grant concepts, draft proposals, assemble supporting documentation, and work with a town or district's procurement, grant-writing, and budget offices so the district—not an individual classroom—can submit compliant proposals that increase access to equipment, field learning, and hands-on science.
Merrimack River Inquiry
Students investigate water quality, ecosystems, data collection, evidence-based communication, and civic stewardship through a local environmental science lens.
Urban Green Spaces
Students study biodiversity, habitat, heat, design, and community health while learning to present findings to authentic audiences.
Waste & Recycling Systems
Students connect matter, engineering design, public communication, and measurable community improvement through local waste-management challenges.
Grant-ready posture: translate classroom needs into district-submittable STE proposals with objectives, budgets, partners, procurement logic, measurable outcomes, and equity/access rationale.
Partnership-ready posture: develop guest-speaker, mentorship, university-lab, field-demonstration, and joint-project concepts that expose students to real scientific careers without requiring a school to invent the network from scratch.
21st-Century STE Demonstrations
These professional demonstrations come from my own business and research work, not from student footage. They serve as evidence of the kinds of hands-on systems thinking I can translate into age-appropriate STE learning: automation, optics, measurement, quality control, scientific instrumentation, data literacy, engineering design, and iterative problem solving.
System Integration: Factory Processing
Automation, process control, robotics concepts, quality control, data-driven decision-making, and engineering design thinking using a visually accessible manufacturing system.
Optics & UV Test Bed I
Photobiology, light paths, optical alignment, UVGI concepts, measurement, instrumentation, and experimental controls translated into student-facing STE questions.
Optics & UV Test Bed II
Applied physics and engineering evidence for lessons on wavelength, energy transfer, design constraints, validation, and how scientific prototypes become testable systems.
Videos are user-initiated and do not autoplay. Web-optimized deployment copies are used here so the page remains practical on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
Academic Credentials
M.S. in Health Science — Regulatory Affairs, George Washington University
Massachusetts General Science 5-8 Initial License pathway — DESE/ELAR Academic Teacher application pending; full licensure process underway so future teaching roles do not depend on waiver status.
Prior district waiver approved — DESE/Lawrence district waiver approved and issued September 16, 2025; effective July 1, 2025 through March 13, 2026; now expired.
MEPID — 58194263, as shown in ELAR/MTEL records.
MTEL Communication & Literacy Skills - Reading / MA101 — met the qualifying score; test date May 29, 2026; reported as qualifying as of June 23, 2026.
MTEL Communication & Literacy Skills - Writing / MA201 — met the qualifying score; test date June 9, 2026; reported as qualifying as of July 8, 2026.
Score-report performance profile — Reading and Writing reports show performance in the strongest displayed bands across the listed multiple-choice subareas and open-response exercises.
MTEL General Science (064) — registered for October 3, 2026 at Pearson Professional Centers, Worcester, MA.