“It was a complete accident,” says VHHS chemistry teacher Mrs. Jessica Sutherland about the beginnings of her teaching career.
Mrs. Sutherland majored in Chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her senior year she had no clue what she wanted to do with her degree, but teaching soon revealed itself to be an option. She had been a part of a program where she took a class one semester, and the next semester she could teach the lab for the class. Mrs. Sutherland “enjoyed interacting with other students, and helping them figure out how the chemistry lab worked.” Consequently, her advisor recommended teaching and sent her across the street from the chemistry building to the education building. In just half an hour, she had applied for graduate school and was enrolled in her first classes, and “it just took off from there.”
“From a young age, science [has always been] a big part of what I did and was interested in,” states Mrs. Sutherland. She remembers growing up, she spent time with her father, who had a big interest in science, doing chemistry experiment kits, assembling model rockets, and exploring nature. At a local community college, she took part in a holiday event called “Science with Santa” each year where she got to make slime and set Cheetos on fire (an early introduction to thermochemistry!). In high school, she participated in Science Olympiad. Her high school chemistry teacher Ms. Wiggins also “really lit [her] fire for chemistry.” Mrs Sutherland recalls that it was amazing to be in her class because of her enthusiasm for chemistry and how the world worked. She remembers how chemistry was one of the first times she had to truly try to understand something, which is no doubt a common sentiment among anyone learning chemistry. “It was interesting and mentally stimulating, so I enjoyed that,” recalls Mrs. Sutherland.
Currently, Mrs. Sutherland teaches Honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry. Teaching at VHHS was her first job out of college, and she has mostly taught here since with the exception of a brief stint as a middle school teacher in her hometown of Haleyville for two years. Mrs. Sutherland is also the sponsor of VHHS’s Science Olympiad team and the sponsor of VHHS’s newly founded Competitive Science Fair Club.
To anyone struggling with chemistry, Mrs. Sutherland has some advice: “First, don’t quit and don’t get discouraged. At some point, everybody hits the academic wall. Don’t feel like you’re the only one who has a question. It’s my job. I want to answer your questions, and it makes me happy. So, come on in [to room A126] anytime you have a question. I'm here to help you.”