Meet the 2008 Mentors

Tonya Smith is a 6th grade science teacher, department chair, and district instructional facilitator at Mayewood Middle School in Sumter, SC. As an instructional facilitator, she assists in the training science teachers in research-based instructional strategies, with a focus on inquiry-based instruction and effective teaching strategies. In her 20 years of teaching, Tonya has taught middle school science and high school biology.

Tonya completed her undergraduate studies in Biology and Psychology at Columbia College in Columbia, SC. She earned a Master’s degree in Science from the University of South Carolina and a Master’s degree in Education from Columbia College. She is currently pursing a Ph.D. in science education from Walden University.

When it comes to being a science teacher, Tonya "absolutely enjoys the challenge that each day brings." Tonya says, "Participating in the Frontiers program was the most rewarding opportunity of my career." In 2004, she worked in the research lab of Dr. Britt Wilson at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. For the curriculum development piece of her fellowship, Tonya decided to adapt a science lab that she already did with her students to be more inquiry-based and to better integrate equity strategies and the Internet. The result is "Please Pass the Microbes" which explores the fermentation process as students make Kim chi (a Korean cabbage dish). Tonya continued her professional development with the APS as a Mentor/Instructor for the 2006 and 2007 Frontiers in Physiology Fellowship programs.

In addition, Tonya was named in 2002 as the Teacher of the Year at her school and received a Time Warner Cable Star Teacher Award. Tonya and her two sons reside in Columbia, SC.

Isabelle Camille lives in Miami, Florida and currently teaches Honors Chemistry at Coral Reef Senior High School since 2005. Isabelle has also taught General Chemistry, Biology, and Physical Science. In 2002, she was named Science Teacher of The Year for Miami-Dade County Schools.

After graduating with a degree in Chemistry from the University of Florida, Isabelle worked as a chemist at the University of Florida and the University of Miami. After a few years of lab work, she decided to follow her passion and enter the teaching profession. As Isabelle states, “I have known that I was a teacher since I was a little girl and used to line up my dolls to teach them everything I had learned in school!” She has been teaching humans for the past 17 years.

sabelle Camille was a Frontiers Research Teacher in 1997. She conducted her research at the University of Miami School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Kenneth Muller and Dr. Ian Dickerson. She worked on a project to construct a retrovirus based vector to facilitate simultaneous expression of the CGRP receptor and RCP in tissue culture cells. In 2002, 2004, and 2006, Isabelle returned to work with the APS as a Mentor/Instructor for the Frontiers and Explorations programs.

To keep in close contact with the science research world, Isabelle has participated in a wide variety of professional development programs. This has not only kept her interest in science alive but has also been a great motivator to encourage her students to go into scientific fields. In 1998, she participated in an NIH Summer Research Program and was placed at the University of Miami, School of Medicine in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 1999, Isabelle was invited to attend a week-long institute sponsored by the National Science Foundation at California State University at Monterey Bay, CA to work with technical experts from industry and research organizations in emerging marine technologies.

In the summer of 2003, she participated in the Partners in Engineering Problem Solving (PEPS) Workshop at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA. She learned about engineering processes and project-based learning and implemented an engineering-based project in her classroom last school year. As she puts it, “PEPS has changed my curriculum. I find myself trusting a lot more in my students’ abilities and expecting a lot more from them.” Currently, Isabelle is enrolled in the Doctoral Program at Florida International University under the supervision of Dr. Luis Martinez-Perez in Science Education. She has her National Board Certification in AYA Science.

Isabelle is married to a wonderful and very supporting fellow who is also a teacher. They and their four children have traveled extensively in Europe and the United States.

Robert Manriquez lives in Shreveport, LA, and has been in education for 6 years. He currently teaches Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science and Physical Science at Stanley High School in Logansport, LA. Robert completed his undergraduate studies in Biology at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA. He earned a Master’s degree in Education also from Northwestern State University. Robert was named the 2006 Teacher of the Year for his previous high school (Many High School) as well as for the parish. He is currently pursuing certification as an Instructional Supervisor.

Robert was a Frontiers Research Teacher in 2006 and conducted his research in Dr. D. Neil Granger’s lab at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA. He presented his laboratory research (platelet-derived RANTES and hypercholesterolemia) at the Experimental Biology 2007 meeting in Washington, DC. During his fellowship, Robert developed the “How Does Mass Relate to Newton’s Second Law of Motion” lab activity. This was accomplished by adapting a previously used science lab to be more inquiry-based and to integrate the Internet.

Robert says, “Participating in the Frontiers program has provided me with a very rewarding opportunity in my career” and “the confidence to be an effective teacher and to seek out more professional development opportunities.” As a result, Robert continued to work with Dr. Granger’s lab to continue with further research studies in the summer of 2007. He was also selected as a participant in the 2007 Japan Fulbright Memorial Teacher Fund Program, introducing him to Japanese education and culture.