Welcome to the Science Lab! My name is Patty Towler and I’m thrilled to be facilitating learning in the Mountain Island Lake Academy Science Lab! It’s going to be a wonderful year full of lots of learning and adventures.
I was born in Massachusetts and began my teaching career in New Hampshire. I moved to North Carolina and have taught here for the past 16 years. I have taught second to sixth grades. I have been at Mountain Island for the past thirteen years, teaching fourth grade Math and Science for 3 years, second grade for four years, and 6th grade Science for one year. This is my fifth year in the STEM Lab. My passion has always been Science, and I have participated in every Science Professional Development that I could find, including the STEM conferences at UNCC, the NASA conference in Charlotte, outdoor learning training at McDowell and Reedy Creek Nature Centers, Project WILD, and SciGirls, a program to get girls interested in STEM careers. I also spent two weeks in the summer of 2017 in a program called STEMersion. I visited business with other teachers, learning what they are looking for in employees for STEM careers. In the summer of 2020 I plan to spend several days in New Bern, gaining knowledge about sustainable forestry in North Carolina.
At home I am mom to three wonderful children who I adopted from opposite ends of the earth. My two boys were born in India and my daughter was born in Guatemala. My children all spent most of their elementary school years at Mountain Island.
I love to travel and have visited 5 of the 7 continents. I have snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and have gone on safari in Kruger National Park in South Africa. I spent time in India and Guatemala when I traveled to bring my children home. I plan to visit the last two continents someday!
I had a professor in college who made Science come alive for me, and I always try to do the same for my students. I recently found a quote from the late Rachel Carson, writer, scientist, and ecologist, that encompasses my feelings about teaching Science. It is, “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement, and the mystery of the world we live in.” I plan to be that adult!
I’m so excited to be in the STEM Lab. There is no doubt that we are the premier choice of education in Northwest Charlotte. We are changing the world - one student, one community, one vision!
I was born in Massachusetts and began my teaching career in New Hampshire. I moved to North Carolina and have taught here for the past 16 years. I have taught second to sixth grades. I have been at Mountain Island for the past thirteen years, teaching fourth grade Math and Science for 3 years, second grade for four years, and 6th grade Science for one year. This is my fifth year in the STEM Lab. My passion has always been Science, and I have participated in every Science Professional Development that I could find, including the STEM conferences at UNCC, the NASA conference in Charlotte, outdoor learning training at McDowell and Reedy Creek Nature Centers, Project WILD, and SciGirls, a program to get girls interested in STEM careers. I also spent two weeks in the summer of 2017 in a program called STEMersion. I visited business with other teachers, learning what they are looking for in employees for STEM careers. In the summer of 2020 I plan to spend several days in New Bern, gaining knowledge about sustainable forestry in North Carolina.
At home I am mom to three wonderful children who I adopted from opposite ends of the earth. My two boys were born in India and my daughter was born in Guatemala. My children all spent most of their elementary school years at Mountain Island.
I love to travel and have visited 5 of the 7 continents. I have snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and have gone on safari in Kruger National Park in South Africa. I spent time in India and Guatemala when I traveled to bring my children home. I plan to visit the last two continents someday!
I had a professor in college who made Science come alive for me, and I always try to do the same for my students. I recently found a quote from the late Rachel Carson, writer, scientist, and ecologist, that encompasses my feelings about teaching Science. It is, “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement, and the mystery of the world we live in.” I plan to be that adult!
I’m so excited to be in the STEM Lab. There is no doubt that we are the premier choice of education in Northwest Charlotte. We are changing the world - one student, one community, one vision!