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Teacher of the Year Dr. Franklin-Rier makes love for science contagious
Dr. Franklin-Rier
After 35 years of teaching, Dr. Alice Franklin-Rier continues to come back to work teaching high school students from the District of Columbia.
“If I can get a student who is open-minded, who is willing to work, I can get them interested in what I am teaching,” she said, the last day before classes were to begin for the 2009-2010 school year at Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School (WMST PCHS) in Washington.
“A lot of our students need someone to show an interest in them,” she said. “I work with my students to get them to like science.”
She has taught at WMST PCHS since 2004, after previously teaching at Spingarn Senior High School and H.D. Woodson Senior High School in Washington. On May 15, Mark Holbrook, head of school, gave Dr. Franklin-Rier the 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year Award at the First Annual Shining Beacon Gala for WMST PCHS at Gallaudet University. She teaches Biology, A.P. Biology, Honors Biology, Genetics, Anatomy & Physiology.
A native of Lynchburg, Va., Dr. Franklin-Rier holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Howard University and a Ph.D. degree from George Washington University. She initially considered attending medical school but decided to teach because she saw that her talents could be put to good use in Washington, D.C., teaching science.
Although a veteran teacher, Dr. Franklin-Rier is always trying to improve her work as a teacher. “I have to keep up,” she said, reciting a litany of continuing education opportunities she takes advantage of, including in-service learning, conferences and workshops. She has served as a lecturer at Howard University in the School of Education. “I like to keep up with new trends,” she said.
Dr. Franklin-Rier has very few discipline problems in class. “I trust them, and they trust me,” she said. “I want you to work with me and not against me,” she has told her classes at the beginning of the school years to underline how she'd like to work with them.
Although Dr. Franklin-Rier is very proud of her ability to connect with average or remedial students and help them become interested in the sciences, the Class of 2009 valedictorian had glowing words of praise for her.
“I know I can call her, and she will always help me,” said Jaren Davis, a member of the Class of 2013 at Georgetown University. “She's very clear in what she wants (from students) in her assignments for the day. She's very clear in what the class is all about.”
In addition to her WMST honor, Dr. Franklin-Rier has won the Presidential Award from the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and she's also been named an outstanding biology teacher by the National Association of Biology Teachers.
Dr. Franlin-Rier was recognized by the College Board for the her work on its A.P. Biology curriculum. The curriculum she helped developed is the model curriculum on the College Board website.