For Lisa Autry, science teacher, choosing a career was easy.
“It’s something I figured out a long long time ago,” Autry said. “I would be the kid in elementary school that would stay in from recess and do flashcards with the kids who were having trouble. The teachers would always put me with people they wanted me to help when I was little. Then when I took Chemistry in high school I thought, ‘This is what I want to teach.’”
Autry teaches AP and regular Chemistry classes along with Independent Research in Science. The most memorable moment from her career was the competitive feud between her AP Chemistry class and AP Biology class two years ago, resulting in a drawn out prank war. After the biology class released fruit flies into Autry’s classroom, her class decided it was time to retaliate.
“We have this chemical that smells like stinky locker feet,” Autry said. “We thought we could somehow smell up their room. We had a glass bottle with three drops of the stuff in it. [My class] put a baggie that had Skittles in it and a note because we thought they would open the bottle to pull that out.”
The rival Biology class, much to her surprise, dumped the chemical on a table while retrieving the Skittles. Once they realized its smell, they wiped it up with paper towels and threw them away in the trash can in the hall, resulting in a science building smelling more like a locker room.
“Downstairs, the whole building just reeked,” Autry said. “We no longer have an AP feud. We never expected them to dump it out and then throw it in the trash. It was a prank gone bad.”
As much as she loves the excitement of teaching science, she enjoys the company even more.
“Teenagers are just so fun to hang out with, and that’s the best part [of teaching],” Autry said. “It’s fun teaching Chemistry because we get to do a lot of cool stuff in the lab, but the best part is hanging out with teenagers, because teenagers are awesome. Most people don’t appreciate that.”
Besides anticipating the AP test, Autry looks forward to coming to school every day simply because she loves her job.
“There’s not one thing I look forward to most this year,” Autry said. “I just look forward to coming and hanging out with the students every day.”
