Wavell State High School teacher Rachel Schnitzerling was one of the three teachers chosen to attend the International High School Teacher Program at CERN.
Held at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, the program brought together teachers from across the globe to discuss and explore various ways to bring physics into the classroom.
The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is also a dream come true for the Wavell State High physics enthusiast. Other teachers that were also selected by Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) for the program include Sydney teacher, Paul Looyen and Coffs Harbour’s Chris Bormann.
Along with the two teachers, Ms Schnitzerling immersed in a two-week program to participate in lectures and see the works of scientists and engineers at CERN.
CERN is a world-class facility leading nuclear physics research. It also happens to be the home of the popular particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Travelling to such a remarkable place and meeting brilliant minds in science surely is a trip to remember for the chosen teachers.
Who is Rachel Schnitzerling?
Ms Schnitzerling has been a Maths, Physics, and Engineering teacher for over 12 years. Before being a teacher, she worked as an engineer for almost seven years.
In her application for the CERN program, she mentioned how she intended to share her learnings and experiences. She will be sharing her knowledge not only to students but to her fellow teachers as well.
Her passion for physics, maths, and engineering reflect on her work. In fact, she was able to inspire one of her former students to pursue studies in maths education.
According to ANSTO CEO, Dr Adi Paterson, the three teachers should be very proud to get into the program. Participation in the said high school teacher program will benefit Australia’s science classrooms given the knowledge and experience that the teachers will gain during their trip to CERN.
Given her undeniable drive in teaching physics and sharing the science of how the universe works to other people, Wavell State High School is certainly lucky to have Ms Schnitzerling around.