Biography
Christine “Chris” Mihealsick teaches 11th and 12th grade students in Advanced Placement (AP) environmental science classes at Westwood High School in Austin, TX. Westwood High School is in Round Rock ISD. This is her 23rd year as a public high school teacher in Texas and her fourth year as science department chair. Mihealsick earned both a Bachelor of Science in biology and a Masters of Arts in science education from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mihealsick is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher, certified in adolescent/young adult science in chemistry. She was also selected for a Fulbright teacher exchange program to Japan, the Toyota International Teacher Program to Costa Rica, and the Northrop Grumman EcoClassroom teacher for tropical research. In addition to teaching, Mihealsick consulted for the National Math and Science Initiative for eight years, training teachers across the country in AP strategies and running student AP review sessions. She has been a College Board AP Reader during summer for 11 years, scoring student AP tests and training other teachers and college professors in AP essay scoring. She was awarded the RL Moore Inquiry Based teaching award from the UTeach program at the University of Texas twice, as well as the UTeach distinguished alumni award.
Two of Mihealsick’s pedagogical priorities are positive relationships and engaging real-world science. Mihealsick works hard to build positive relationships with students and a classroom environment where everyone feels respected and valued. Mihealsick does many hands-on labs, frequently takes students outside to do fieldwork, and ties in engaging real-world case studies and home projects to involve families in environmental learning.