Educator of the Week: Andrew Johnson

It’s time for this week’s Educator of the Week , brought to you by the Tennessee Education Lottery.

Andrew Johnson is bringing some chemistry to his classroom at Chester County High School, and he’s loving what he does.

“I have no complaints. I just enjoy the job. I think it’s fun, and any negative is just mitigated by the wonderful,” Johnson said.

He found his love for the subject under his former high school chemistry teacher and wanted to teach.

“He ended up being my favorite teacher. He inspired me to major in it, and he inspired me to teach it,” Johnson said. “I’m so thankful for that, so I want to give it back.”

Johnson tries to make the difficult subject as easy as possible for his students.

“Make it relevant. For example, the periodic table over there. You can teach those elements in a way that it has a practical application to the student’s lives. You don’t make it just memorization and book work, but you make it relevant to the kids,” Johnson said.

And he applies hands-on teaching methods as well.

“We have a bunch of chemicals back there and a bunch of glassware. So we can actually do things that we can talk about conceptually, but they can also view it visually,” Johnson said.

But Johnson says what takes the learning to the next level is personally getting to know the students.

“If you learn their stories, it helps you get to adapt to them individually. And it makes them respect you as a teacher more and you learn a whole lot more,” Johnson said.

And getting to know his students just happens to be his favorite part of teaching.

“Interacting with the students by far. Getting to learn their stories, getting to learn them individually, and just getting to work with them individually. And I love seeing the light bulb go off,” Johnson said.

Johnson says appreciation of the subject is success in his classroom.

“A lot of the time they’ll walk in and have this mentality that chemistry is hard and difficult, so if they can leave in May saying they appreciate it and enjoyed it, then I did my job,” Johnson said.

Johnson is now eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Month award.

To vote for him or any other nominees, go to the Tennessee Education Lottery website.

To nominate an educator for our Educator of the Week award, email us at educator@wbbjtv.com.