It wasn’t until she was in college that Angela Tabor considered teaching might be the perfect career for her.

“I was tutoring students in my college chemistry class and realized the material we were learning would be understood better if it was broken down into bite-size pieces and if it was made fun,” Tabor says. “So that's what I did, and soon I had quite a large group of students coming to get help. Seeing them having fun learning and succeeding in class opened my eyes about becoming a teacher.”

Tabor recently completed her first year teaching physical sciences at Bay Minette Middle School.

Despite having a much different opinion on teaching when she was younger, Tabor says she now fully understands how difficult the job can be.

“I always thought teaching must be one of the easiest jobs, but what I have found is it is one of the most stressful jobs I have ever had,” Tabor says. “Our job is to prepare students for high school and beyond. So there is a lot of pressure to teach and give these kids a good foundation of information that will help them succeed when they leave my class.”

Along with remembering the lessons in her class, Tabor hopes her students remember her classroom as a place they were supported.

“If students don't remember anything in science I taught them, I hope they remember I always believed in them and I hope all my crazy stories have inspired them to work hard in life and dream big,” Tabor says. “Seeing students excited about learning and exploring the world around them is my favorite thing about teaching.”

TEACHER: Angela Tabor

SCHOOL: Bay Minette Middle School

SUBJECT(S) TAUGHT: Physical science

SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT YOURSELF: My teaching experience began by homeschooling my son while we were living in Germany. My husband is an engineer for Airbus in Mobile so we were with him while he was trained. We lived in Germany for about five months, and we homeschooled my son during that time.