Passionate upper school science teacher and traveler, Ms. Kim Johnson, teaches freshman biology, tropical ecology, and marine biology at Cape Henry Collegiate. She has always loved science and appreciates it around the globe.
“I had amazing influences in college, college professors and experiences that made me think, maybe I want to teach,” Ms. Johnson said. “I loved biology, I was a biology major, Master’s in Environmental Studies, and the college I went to offered a teaching certification and I was able to graduate with a certification for Virginia.”
Ms. Johnson has a long history of enjoying all things scientific and teaching it to people who enjoy the fun of science.
“I like learning new things specifically as it applies to science,” she said. “I love the field trips, same reason I like Nexus, watching you guys [students] enjoy those experiences”
Ms. Johnson is not only the Tropical Ecology teacher, but also the Nexus advisor for the Belize trip associated with the class. Ms. Johnson’s love for traveling stems from not only seeing new places, but also the students’ reactions.
“I think my favorite thing on Nexus trips is watching kids see things for the first time,” she said. “I could go to the same place every year, and with Tropical Ecology we do, so it’s like, ‘Oh I’ve seen that already,’ but it’s watching you guys or watching students see things for the first time and be like, ‘Oh my gosh that’s so amazing.’ I think that’s my favorite thing about Nexus.”
Ms. Johnson is no stranger to traveling, and has an immense passion for it and what she has accomplished.
“I hiked in the Darien Jungle in the gap between Columbia and Panama, super dangerous, but one of the most biologically rich places on the planet,” Ms. Johnson said. “I got to go to Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal, which is… historically the place that’s been researched the longest on the planet.”
Travel has always been a way of life and study for Ms. Johnson, but travel influences her to learn new things and teach them to students who share her love for science and travel.
“It is definitely something that allows me to appreciate the opportunities im given, not many teachers have an opportunity to teach a course, and then take the kids to that location and study and see those things so teaching here specifically, I appreciate that and those opportunities more,” she said. “It allows me to be more tolerant and patient, it humbles me on every level and I think it just rejuvenates me and reminds me why I do what I do.”
Her path led her to teaching, but Ms. Johnson is inspired in many different ways to make life in the future count.
“I think when I grow up I want to be a photographer, do photography, make pictures like Joel Satore,” she said.
Joel Satore is a photographer for National Geographic and author of the book The Photo Ark: One Man’s Quest to Document the World’s Animals. Ms. Johnson has inspired many, but she gained that ability from being inspired by scientists that made a change.
“Rachel Carson is arguably one of the most notable environmentalists ever,” she said. “She wrote the book ‘Silent Spring’ and had literal changes to the environment on DDT [and] pesticides … [she] changed people’s view because not only was she a scientist that researched and talked about this in class, she was a storyteller. So, it wasn’t just scientists that she captured the attention of that all these problems were happening, she was able to tell the story about it and impact people that weren’t scientists, which meant she was touching more humans that got even more passionate about what she stood for.”
Passion is a big aspect of her life inside and out of school for Ms. Johnson, and she shared she is also a minimalist versus a maximalist.
“Minimalist for sure, for sure the little things in life are everything, it’s the little things,” she said. “When someone makes you a piece of jewelry in class and brings it by, it doesn’t have to be from Tiffany’s, somebody made it and thought about you, and that to me is everything.”
