Chemistry and physics teacher Dr. Amanda Shoemaker has begun her transition into a new role as the NHS sponsor.
With over 100 members at EHS and over a million members worldwide, sponsoring NHS is a big step for any teacher to take. However, Dr. Shoemaker feels she is ready for the job.
“I hold my students to high standards, the same went for myself when I was in school,” she said. “I think it’s a good quality for students to have a high GPA, have community involvement and service hours, so I thought it was a good progression for me.”
After being left several years worth of notes and tools from former sponsor Mrs. Gibson, Dr. Shoemaker plans to revamp the program even further, adding new committees and encouraging more involvement than the club has seen in years past.
Senior officer Olivia Karlas approves of the new changes and has enjoyed contributing to the discussions and planning.
“The transition from Mrs. Gibson has been fairly easy,” Karlas said. “It has given us the opportunity to implement new committees and ideas … the rest of the officers and I have been working with her to revise the changes.”
“We want to dive into a military committee, which we haven’t had in the past,” she said. “We’re doing a health related committee for students who are interested in that, and then we really want to get more inclusive and have special education community involvement, which hasn’t been tapped into in the past as much as we’ve wanted to.”
Karlas and the other officers have been meeting to make sure the changes are finalized before official meetings begin on Thursday, Sept. 12.
“There are mandatory meetings and mandatory committees, each committee gives back to the community and each NHS member will be a part of this,” Karlas said. “I am really looking forward to working with the other officers and the community this year.
Dr. Shoemaker has been a science teacher for nine years and is entering her second year at EHS after spending eight years at Alton High School.
Before she started teaching, Dr. Shoemaker majored in human biology, then got her doctorate in chiropractic and sports medicine.
She worked as a chiropractor for several years before transitioning to teaching anatomy at local colleges in her area.
She went back to school for her teaching masters degree in general science education to teach at the public schools.
“As I became busier and busier and I had my kids, I wanted a more flexible schedule,” Dr. Shoemaker said. “Being a teacher was really convenient with the hours, while still letting me be involved in science and teaching healthcare-related topics.”
Dr. Shoemaker has always been an avid science fan and enjoys bringing new information and ideas to her students.
“I like bringing up difficult topics for my students in a way that is easier to understand,” she said. “Chemistry is a difficult topic, so is physics, but I like to show [the students] how it actually applies to them in the real world and how they might not think they’re going to use it later in life, but they actually will.”
Dr. Shoemaker plans to continue teaching at EHS, and hopes to remain active and involved within the school community.