All eyes are on her as she teaches the metric system to a group of students. This is her first year teaching at Dreyfoos, and she does not hesitate to lead the class through lessons and answer every question thrown her way. But this is not her first time stepping foot in a classroom at this school..

Science teacher Brooke Taylor is a theatre alumna from the class of 2017, who returned to Dreyfoos to teach chemistry this year. This will be Ms. Taylor’s third year officially teaching, as she spent the last two years as an educator at Grandview Preparatory School. Prior to becoming an educator, Ms. Taylor spent a year teaching chemistry labs and making solutions.

Science was not always Ms. Taylor’s favorite subject. As a freshman, she almost failed her biology class. However, with the help of science teacher Elyce Hill, she was able to improve and become a biochemistry major at Florida State University.

“I was failing her class, and she pulled me aside, and we did some lunch tutoring,” Ms. Taylor said. “I went from having the lowest grade to breaking the curve. She (Ms. Hill) is who I strive to be as a teacher.”

Ms. Taylor says she adapts her teaching style based on the class and the students to best communicate concepts and ideas. She demonstrates multiple methods to solve problems in class and also holds daily lunch tutoring to give students extra help if they need it. Ms. Taylor says she hopes to encourage a learning environment that prioritizes learning over test scores.

“Not every student learns the same,” Ms. Taylor said. “It (could) just (be) that one extra tutoring where it’s that shift where they’re like ‘Oh my god, I get it now,’ … (It’s) progress over perfection. I have it on the board. You don’t have to be perfect. It’s just progress, and that’s what I want for my students.”