St Martin’s science teacher imparts knowledge

GERALDINE Naidoo is the head of the science department at St Martin’s Preparatory School. She has been the science teacher at the prep school for the past seven years.

Prior to St Martin’s, she had experience as a mainstream and special needs teacher and had therefore been exposed to a wide spectrum of learning styles and techniques.

During her Easter holiday in 2017, she worked for a company called The Nutty Scientist at the Rand Easter Show.

The company partnered with St Martin’s, and along with 10 St Martin’s High School learners, for a ten-day period where they were able to showcase their love for science.

“The time I spent presenting scientific principles at the show brought me acclaim, and I even had a mention in the local edition of Child Magazine,” Geraldine said.

Later in 2017, Geraldine was selected to attend Honeywell Educators at the Space Academy Conference, which was held at the US Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Alabama.

“During my time there I attended lectures at the University of Alabama, as well as participated in engineering and design challenges, which included rocket construction and launch, payload operations and many others. I met and interacted with teachers from around the world and forged valuable relationships,” she added.

In 2018, Geraldine spearheaded a programme which saw St Martin’s as one of eight schools from around the world piloting a science programme for Honeywell, in conjunction with Nasa and the US Space and Rocket Centre.

Through various challenges and experiments, they were able to complete the tasks that were outlined in meritorious fashion. This pilot programme proved to be a great success with positive feedback all round.

“As a math and science major at university, being able to impart knowledge with my learners in a manner that develops curiosity and encourages critical thinking is very important to me.

“St Martin’s has been the perfect platform for me to develop as an educator. The school has a great ethos and is value driven. Focus on quality instead of quantity and the ability to identify each child’s strength is what sets St Martin’s apart from other schools,” Geraldine said.

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