After a 13-year absence from teaching at Dreyfoos, physics teacher Joann Waugh has returned with her lifelong goal of changing people’s lives.

Once she attained a degree in mechanical engineering, Mrs. Waugh worked in fire protection and computer modeling, possessing varying responsibilities. Some days, she was performing smoke studies; other days she was making sure fire exits would not lock during an emergency.

“When I got my degree, I had a sense that I would go into construction engineering, but I thought I would probably do heating and air conditioning,” Mrs. Waugh said. “When I met some of the principals at the company that I worked for, I realized that I could make a bigger difference in people’s lives if I was doing fire and life safety.”

During her absence from Dreyfoos, Mrs. Waugh’s goal extended as an elementary school teacher. She taught science and technology, encouraging students to get out of their comfort zone and bring the arts and sciences together. 

“You had two sets of kids, the kids (who) thought they were science kids already and the kids (who) already thought they were arts kids,” Mrs. Waugh said. “I liked to see them get jazzed up about what they didn’t think they liked.”

Teaching an elementary class gave Mrs. Waugh the opportunity to push creativity in experiments, such as when she had her students mix different colored lights and pigments for various results. 

Before Mrs. Waugh came to Dreyfoos, she knew she wanted to break the glass ceiling for women in science and technology. This school, which has about a 7:3 female-to-male ratio, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, allowed Mrs. Waugh to reach out to more females than in other places. Several of her previous female students ended up as doctors, engineers, and scientists. 

“It was a little lonely to be the only girl (in my field),” Mrs. Waugh said. “So when (my husband and I) moved here from Atlanta, my husband had gotten a job. I thought, ‘Maybe I could do something different, maybe make more girl scientists.’”

Mrs. Waugh said she wanted to be a “strong female role model” by getting everyone to work together and find value and respect for one another no matter their differences. These sentiments are shown in her syllabus, which reads, “Class Rule: mutual respect and politeness are a necessity to a classroom setting and will be enforced at all times.” 

After 13 years, Mrs. Waugh is “really grateful” for having the chance to come back to Dreyfoos.

“I walked in. It feels like I never left,” Mrs. Waugh said. “The kids are all the same, happy, awesome kids that I remember it being.”