Background as Science Educators and Leaders 

*Mentor John Olson*

John has had an extremely varied career! He studied physics at Concordia College, Morehead. Afterward, he took a position with the Peace Corps in Liberia, teaching in a teacher training institute for elementary teachers. He enjoyed the experience, so when he came back to Minnesota, he took a job teaching physics at Litchfield High School. One of his colleagues there helped John get interested in geology, so when John worked on a Master's degree in Education, he took geology classes and added an earth science license. 

During his summers, John worked at a camp on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota and eventually left teaching to work as a director for the camp for 7 years. The job came to involve too much administrative work, so he came back to teaching in St Paul Public Schools for 15 years. In St. Paul, John started taking on some leadership roles as a TOSA.

For 3 years, John split his time between St. Paul Public Schools and Metro State University where he taught physics and science education. He eventually went back to St. Paul full-time as the district science lead for 3 years. From there, John joined the Minnesota Department of Education where he worked for 12 years as the state science education specialist. After retiring from MDE, John has continued to teach at Metro State.

*Mentee Marta Stoeckel*

Marta received a physics degree and then added a teaching license. She has been working in the same district her entire career. She started as a physics teacher and has been gaining leadership opportunities. She participated in a teaching fellowship focused on STEM integration and later a PhD program in science education.Her current role is the secondary science specialist for a suburban school district, providing coaching, professional learning, and curriculum development. 

Motivation to Join the VESELS Program 

*Mentor John Olson* 

John has been to some NSELA events and knows Eric Rhodes from the Council of State Science Supervisors. Eric reached out to see if John would be interested in mentoring a VESEL applicant from his state and John was glad to help someone local!

*Mentee Marta Stoeckel*

Marta participated in a virtual professional development program that recommended the VESEL program and decided to apply to grow her leadership skills. 

Proud Leadership Achievements 

*Mentor John Olson*

John led the development and adoption of Minnesota’s most recent science standards, which actually began with the development of the Next Generation Science Standards. Minnesota was one of the NGSS lead states, represented by John. A few years after the NGSS were published, John led a revision of Minnesota’s science standards that was influenced by the NGSS and had a very smooth process.

*Mentee Marta Stoeckel*

Marta cites the leadership of high school instructional materials adoption and implementation as a significant success. They successfully adapted the NextGen TIME process to facilitate decision-making and secure teacher buy-in. 

For Leaders the Learning Journey Never Ends 

*Mentor John Olson* 

John currently teaches pre-service teachers, so is very interested in how he can support them in modifying or designing curriculum to deliver phenomena-based instruction. Many of his students will work for districts that have adopted science curriculum, but the quality of that curriculum varies so he wants to make sure his students have the skills to bring phenomena into their classrooms no matter what curriculum their school uses.

John has also been learning about how to improve recruitment and retention of science teachers. When we have strong science students in our classrooms, teachers frequently encourage them to pursue a career in science or engineering, but John would like to see teachers encourage some of those students to become science teachers.

*Mentee Marta Stoeckel*

Marta is interested in further exploring effective science group work strategies, including conversation and feedback processes. This is an essential aspect of science learning. This focus is an outgrowth of work that she did for her recent PhD dissertation. 

Marta’s Hope for the VESELS program 

Marta is looking forward to the connections with other participants and the community they develop. She wants to be able to share ideas and strategies with people who have similar roles. She hopes there will be an opportunity to interact in person.

John’s Advice to Marta for getting the Most out of the VESELS Program 

Get to know not only the VESEL scholars, but the leaders in NSELA. The organization is full of people who are strong leaders and science educators who can be great resources to grow in this work. Getting involved in a committee is an especially great way to build connections in the organization.