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  • Writer's pictureGlynis Perrett

Welcome!

Updated: Aug 16, 2019


Here I am in the Mars Yard at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. In the background you can see Curiosity's Earth-bound twin and a model of the APXS instrument I worked with!

Why hello there! Welcome to my blog where I will be chronicling my alternate practicum journey to Africa (Tanzania and Rwanda specifically) with 1 Million Teachers and several of my fellow Queen's University classmates. I can't believe it...I leave tomorrow! Bags are packed and I'm just about ready to go (but I still feel like I've forgotten something, as always!).


To give you a general introduction to myself, I thought I'd share a post that 1 Million Teachers shared on their website about me:


"For The Love of Teaching - Part 2: Meet Teacher Candidate, Glynis Perret, Ph.D. Geochemistry, former NASA Scientist.

In her own words:

Prior to attending Queen’s University as a consecutive student in the Faculty of Education, I completed my Ph.D. at the University of Guelph in geochemistry, where I helped calibrate Canada’s instrument on NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) rover mission, called the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). After I completed my Ph.D., I moved to Ithaca, New York, USA where I spent two years as a research associate at Cornell University in the astronomy department. My research was aimed at studying specific aspects about the geochemistry of rocks, soil, and dust on Mars using APXS instruments on both Curiosity and NASA’s other operational rover at the time, Opportunity. During both my Ph.D. at the University of Guelph and time as a research scientist at Cornell University I had the privilege of participating on both the Curiosity and Opportunity Mars rover operations teams and collaborate with some of the world’s top planetary scientists.

I had originally aspired to become a university professor where I could both teach and do research but soon realized that path was not the best path for me. Teaching, in my opinion, is the most rewarding aspect of being a professor, however teaching at the university level is not a high priority on the list of professorial obligations. Because I find teaching so fulfilling, I decided to change directions slightly and become a high school science and math teacher. I hope my experiences working with the Mars rovers, as well as being a female in primarily male-dominated fields, can inspire my future students to pursue careers in the STEM fields with confidence and a sense of belonging.

I am honoured that I am able to join One Million Teachers for my alternate practicum placement. I strongly believe that education is a right, not a privilege, for all children on this planet so when I learned about the 1 Million Teachers program in one of my B.Ed. classes, I wanted to get involved in any way that I could. I have been very privileged to have been able to pursue education to the level that I have, and I am very fortunate that I have the ability to pursue a career path that I am passionate about. I know not everyone has the opportunities or access to education that I have had and it is my hope that in the near future most citizens of Earth will have access to quality education, just like I have had. I look forward to joining this year’s group of Queen’s B.Ed. teacher candidates as we travel to Tanzania and Rwanda. I am excited to collaborate and build relationships with teachers in these two countries, share our learning about the teaching profession, and be a part of the 1 Million Teachers' mission to improve education on a global scale."-www.facebook.com/onemillionteachers/, March 1st


I'm so excited for this adventure and I am so happy you're tagging along! Now I'm off for a last dinner at home and a good sleep in my own bed. Talk soon!



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