AACT Member Spotlight: Esther Hines



Every month AACT spotlights a passionate member who is dedicated to enhancing chemistry inside and outside the classroom. This month, we spotlight Esther Hines. Though she is now retired, she taught AP Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, College Preparatory Chemistry, and Introductory Organic Chemistry at Billerica Memorial High School, in Billerica Massachusetts. She currently volunteers with the ACS Division of Chemical Education (DivChED) and the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO). 

Tell us about yourself.
I hold a Bachelor and a master’s in science degrees in Chemistry. I decided on my major during my first semester of undergraduate studies. Professor Ugaz, a brilliant educator, made the understanding of chemistry and mostly chemical reactions, incredible interesting for me. I have taught General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry in college. In high school I taught AP Chemistry, Honors Chemistry and College Preparatory Chemistry, along with Introductory Organic Chemistry.

Why did you become a teacher? Did you always want to teach?

I discovered my passion for teaching after I worked as a chemist for a couple of years. My husband’s job required us to move from one location to the next every two years. I took my first teaching job in North Carolina at the University of North Carolina Pembroke. They hired me to cover for a faculty member who was on sabbatical. I taught General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry to chemistry majors.

I realized then that teaching was more than lecturing about a subject, it was the joy of seeing students understanding all sorts of concepts, easy ones and difficult ones, and the joy I felt each time my students succeeded. Later, I took this positive experience when I started teaching high school chemistry.

What do you do to remain current and bring the latest science into the classroom?

Staying current in any science field is crucial, since there is a new discovery pretty much every day. Therefore, I read chemistry journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the Journal of Chemical Education and the weekly Chemical and Engineering News. I learned to develop quiz questions or problems based on recent publications during the summer weeks. I always brought the latest discoveries as examples for a lesson or unit I was covering in class.

What is your approach to building a meaningful relationship with your students and their parents?

Trust is an important aspect in teaching. My students trust that I will deliver a well-prepared lesson, that I will make every effort to make sure everyone in my classroom understands what the expectations are to succeed in the course. For parents or guardians, I demonstrate a genuine interest and care about their student's success. I trust that my students will put forward their best effort in normal circumstances, and that they will feel free to share with me any issues that may affect their work, so I can help them do their best.

Why did you become involved with AACT? What are the benefits of being involved?

I have followed AACT right from its beginnings. I established a ChemClub in 2006 through the American Chemical Society and became a member when AACT was created in 2014.

There are two ways that AACT has been influential in my career as high school chemistry teacher. One was the ability to access best lessons on many different topics. It made the use of my preparation time more efficient. AACT has an immense library of amazing work from teachers in classrooms all over the country and around the World. Second, It gave me the ability to encourage my young colleagues to share their own great work in the classrooms and be published, such as through Chemistry Solutions. My administrators really value being published at my school.

Finally, AACT has helped me make the ChemClub activities more diverse since we have a K-2 audience, in our outreach programs, and our high school audience in our after-school programs. We can find anything we need on the AACT website.

Share some words of wisdom to other chemists.

Listen to your audience, your students, to make your lessons more interesting to them. You can find many examples that fit your students’ interests and cover the concepts you are teaching at the same time. Chances are you will be learning along with them. It will never be boring!