Audrey James-Anenih, staff writer
Physiology teacher Sue Yovetich has made it her goal to help students obtain and retain the science curriculum by using an organic method. By creating a communal environment within her classroom Yovetich allows all of her students to naturally absorb the curriculum.

“Being able to teach physiology is really a joy, because the students’ interest in the curriculum lends itself. We can all relate what we are reading in class to our personal experiences outside of the classroom,” Yovetich said

Yovetich believes that an educational environment is built on the interactions a student will make with their peers, as well as faculty.

“I believe that finding ways to relate the learning material to students’ lives outside of the classroom is the most effective way to teach,” Yovetich said.

According to Yovetich, learning with peers can broaden one’s knowledge and create more opportunities to naturally pick up on knowledge in the classroom. Sometimes the best aspect of our education is masked by some of the stress on the educational angle.

“Sometimes it seems like we, as teachers, focus on coming up with ways to get the students to learn better and retain knowledge. But how I get the students to learn, students are usually more willing to learn about things that are relevant to them,” Yovetich said. “When the students feel like I care about helping them learn about things that they care about, the learning aspect comes almost organically.”

Ties between course content and the personal lives of her students are always encouraged in the classroom through several exercises Yovetich has come up with.

“The content generally should almost always be relevant and of interest. I always encourage students to personalize the knowledge from the book to the consider themselves. If a student is in a sport or was recently injured, or has a family member that is sick, I always encourage them to relate that back to our curriculum,”  Yovetich said. “I have the students do a learning style survey and try different strategies for our labs, worksheets, and anything else we do in class.”

The well-being of not only her students, but the entire student body is a priority for Yovetich. In order to this, she makes it a personal priority to make herself available as much as she can.

“Instructing and teaching and really putting myself into the lives of the students really helps me learn how to better teach them and cater to their educational needs,” Yovetich said. “I encourage all of my students to bring their friends in to come and talk with me even if it isn’t directly related to my class. I always try to get involved with what kind of extracurriculars students do so I can have a direct relation to them as not only my students, but as people with a lot to offer the world.”