Chemistry teacher Mary Russo joins host, senior Elias Kilbridge on the Orbit. From an unexpected application to AmeriCorps to a recounting of her first two weeks at Clayton High School, Russo’s bright and thoughtful personality is on full display. Listen in as she shares valuable advice on teaching and life in general. Thanks for listening in.

TRANSCRIPT

Kilbridge: Welcome back to the Orbit, the first podcast of the year, my name is Elias Kilbridge. I’m here with Miss Russo, our new AP chemistry teacher, and I’m so excited to have you join us today. 

Russo: Well, thank you for asking. Everyone’s been so wonderful here at Clayton High School, so this is just part of this journey for me.

Kilbridge: Of course, just to open up, I want to ask you where have you taught in the past? How did you, how did you really find this as your passion?

Russo: Teaching… really going for it. I was a science major in college; that’s what I knew. That’s what I loved. I majored in biochemistry, and I thought, I’m going to go to get a PhD; maybe I’ll apply to med school when I graduated in 1997. I worked in a research lab, and it was wonderful. A cellular molecular cardiology lab at SLU. And then my buddy, like any crazy turns in life, applied to an AmeriCorps teaching volunteer program, and I said, as any young 20-something might consider, “Sounds like fun.” So I did that, and I volunteer taught for two years in Oklahoma City at a school there, and I was hooked. It was unexpected. I said yes to an alternate opportunity, and I was hooked.

Kilbridge: That sounds amazing. I mean, I feel like some of the most important things come in the most unexpected ways.

Russo: Yes, you’ve got plans for yourself. I like to make 5-year plans for myself. I like to look forward in those kinds of increments because if you want something at the end of a 5-year thing, you gotta do something now to make that happen, and during that journey, being open to, huh, you know, five years ago, if you’d asked me if I’d been here at Clayton High School, 26 years of teaching. Year 26. Unexpected, unexpected. So lovely.

Kilbridge: It sounds like it. I mean, 26 years, that’s a long time to be doing one thing, so I mean just for anyone. What were the most formative experiences throughout that time teaching? What are some experiences that really stood out to you along the way? 

Russo: Ah, there’s, there’s so many and, and I would always joke with students, well, I’m going to go home and talk with my husband, who’s also a teacher, by the way, about, about that one–leaving student names out, of course–because people will ask me after 26 years, they’ll say, aren’t you bored? You’ve been doing chemistry and some biology all these years, and I said, Oh, there’s nothing boring about the puzzle. The puzzle of discovery and the students’ personal journey with that puzzle of discovery every single year. While the labs might be the same, while the demos might be similar, there’s always a twist. There’s always a twist, and that’s really exciting. I want people to know and love and value, um, there’s a reason Clayton High School and most high schools require three years of science. There’s a reason there, and I want every student who leaves my classroom to see and understand that. So that makes this super challenging, and I love that challenge. So, there have been many stories along those lines. During my first two years teaching, I was at a coed school, and then I came back to St. Louis. I was not quite sure, but out of AmeriCorp, I got a job at Saint Louis University High, where I was there for 23 years. I did all the things, and I thought, wouldn’t it be fun? The one thing I didn’t have in my experience was working with boys, girls, and so many others for over two decades. That’s not really answering your question. There’s so many, so many things that I could talk to you about, but mostly, what I enjoy most about it is trying to figure out a way to connect with the students so they can trust me enough to trust me with some of their time outside of the class to study this stuff. So I’m going to keep thinking about that because I know I’ve got some stories I probably can’t share.

Kilbridge: Coming back to connecting with students outside of the classroom, connecting back to people asking you, don’t you get bored? You’re connecting with new people all the time when you’re teaching; you’re meeting new souls, new students, new challenges, I guess, in each classroom, so that’s just something like the beauty about working with people is nobody is the same.

Russo: Absolutely right, and if I can be quiet long enough to learn a little bit about what motivates people is a fascination of mine. Why do people do what they do that serves me, I think, in these years that I’ve been teaching, and you get to know people through relationships. So that’s on my syllabus: relationships lead to trust, and trust leads to change. I think that’s not just unique to my chemistry classroom, it’s unique, and I think that applies–pardon me–to anything you get into in life.

Kilbridge: Tell me more. 

Russo: There’s always going to be a time that I’ll ask a stressed-out student, a student who is, um, feeling that they’re at their limit, and I’ll say, “Well, let’s sit down. Tell me more. Tell me why,” and if they can feel like I’m listening or I’m trying, they’re going to trust me, and then they’re going to do what I ask them to do. I’m not interested in wasting students’ time in the classroom, and there are things I’m going to ask him to do, and they’re going to wonder why. So I need trust and relationships, which are so important, and that’s not unique to what I do. You need to see that in every industry you would go into.]

Kilbridge: You just mentioned relationships that are just so important in life in general. Are there other ways you want to improve the science program at Clayton? Better your teaching? What areas of growth are you looking forward to in this new chapter of your teaching?

Russo: So important. You know some of my colleagues over the years will say: “Why are you going to that workshop? We do all that already.” I’m like, “But I haven’t seen someone else do it their way.” I always say everyone makes the chili a little bit different, and every now and again, a little different ingredients, some different methods and protocols, if you will. I want to see how people are making their chili. I get it. I know what they’re going to do. I want to see how they’re doing it so that professional growth piece is always constantly there for me and that’s one of the reasons I came to Clayton High School. There’s a real ethos. There’s a real commitment because I would deal with um the great pleasure and honor of working with Ms. Falkoff and Mr. Nathan Pack and some of our local chemistry teacher groups that we have, and they were always just so curious. It would make me think, I wonder what it’s like, I wonder what it’s like to be there and to be supported in your curiosity and pride–it’s really important. Also–I love my dad–he is a trial attorney, and the one question that he would ask someone for the jury, who’s supposed to be an expert on something, right? What do you do to further your knowledge? What professional organizations do you belong to? What books have you read? If they don’t really have an answer to that, you just kind of wonder how are they staying on it? Are they staying fresh? How are they staying curious? That has stuck with me over the years as well.

Kilbridge: I mean, curiosity and teaching are obviously two things that go hand in hand.

Russo: It’s the one thing I’ll tell the students because it’s funny. What students do naturally, of course, you gamify education, right? With the grades, you see it as leveling up. OK, I got a grade here and that grade says something, and then there’s a personal judgment that often comes with that. It’s not a personal judgment; it’s feedback. OK, it looks like I got to study that topic a little bit more, kind of review my process on that. Oh my gosh, no, no, hang on, I was going; now you know what it’s like to be in my classroom. Oh my gosh, no! I was going somewhere with that… you’re gonna want to ask, “Hey, what’d you get on that?” It’s very natural and a common shared experience, but you only do that for ranking and ranking can be a barrier to growth and curiosity. I’m not saying you don’t need feedback. I’m not saying you don’t want to know kind of where you are on things, so you can learn to push yourself. I’m not saying that. I’m saying, where do you see yourself beyond a grading culture I want to move beyond and get to learning. Curiosity is the one thing that can be harder–innate curiosity—harder to teach. I’ll teach you the math, I’ll teach you the vocab, I’ll teach you the stuff that you need. What can be harder to teach is curiosity and getting modern students to prize that when you have to get a GPA to get into college. It’s a perception, a strong perception there. It’s good work I feel like I’m doing.

Kilbridge: This is a quick and maybe a little less of an intensive question, but is there one moment that stuck out to you throughout your first few weeks of being at Clayton? What is just one fun moment that you’ve had? An exciting moment, maybe an aha moment? Just one moment that has positively stuck out to you so far. 

Russo: There’s been so many. I can think of two that just pop real quick. I haven’t had girls in my classroom for 23 years, and I’ve got one section that’s mostly girls–just the luck of the draw or however that works, and there were a couple of guys who were late, and I’m sitting there in front of this classroom with all of these female students going, “Oh, this is different.” It’s just different; it’s just that I am in a different place because that wasn’t my experience for so long. That was kind of a fun moment for me, and it happened just recently. And then my first week, my first week here, I’m in the middle of teaching one of the AP sections at the end, and Mr. Peck comes walking into the classroom. I’m like, “What?” I said, “Nathan, give me a week, give me at least a week.” You know, he’s something, isn’t he? And, what an institution at Clayton High School, but also an institution in the local chemistry community. He was back to pick up some stuff that he left and that kind of thing. We joked it was so fun. He is just so fun and so clearly loved by the community. It’s just an honor for me to kind of continue it and add my own to the program, but to continue–hopefully–the excellence for sure. 

Kilbridge: I never had him but I’ve heard so many stories just about how much people love him and love being in his class and I’m sure that, come this year and once a couple of years past, I’m sure that will be the same for you.

Russo: Thank you very much! 

Kilbridge: I just want to thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to come on the podcast with me. I’m excited to have you here at Clayton High School and I’m sure that the rest of the community is too, so thank you so much. 

Russo: Thank you. It’s been a real pleasure.

Kilbridge: I appreciate it.

This story was originally published on The Globe on October 9, 2024.