Rachel Pipke is the 8th grade science teacher and 8th grade team leader at Sunset Ridge Middle School. Under her guidance, students gain the knowledge and confidence to lead their own experiments, discover what works and what doesn't, and develop critical thinking skills they’ll need in the future.
“Ms. Pipke is wonderful. She is really a lead learner in this building, which I think is what makes her so effective,” said Sunset Ridge Assistant Principal Alexandra Turner. “She's constantly looking for new strategies, new ways to reach the kids. She really has embraced IB and curriculum writing and built her knowledge of how to best support kids in a science classroom.”
Pipke works to create a classroom environment that is student led. Her students are able to plan and conduct their own science experiments, while she facilitates and provides guidance.
Turner said, “She has created true scientists in her room. She has these high expectations of kids where she believes that they could do an experiment start to finish.”
Outside of her science classroom, Pipke’s role as 8th grade team leader keeps her engaged in the school community. She plans 8th grade activities throughout the year, helps students and families prepare for high school, and organizes the annual promotion ceremony.
“She, along with her team, really puts together great, memorable experiences for our 8th graders and impacts our community so much,” said Turner.
Learn more about Rachel Pipke in the Q&A below.
How long have you been teaching and how long have you been part of the Sunset Ridge community?
Pipke: This is my eighth year, and I've been at Sunset for all eight years.
Teaching is kind of my second profession. I originally started in aquariums. I used to work at Mystic Aquarium and children's museums, so that's where I kind of started falling in love with teaching. Then I finally got my certificate and started teaching in public schools.
What inspired you to make that career transition to teaching full time?
Pipke: At the aquarium, I was the person on the mic telling you all about, like, the beluga whales. That was my job. And then at the children's museum, I was designing the education for, like, toddler science, so I've leveled up on my science a little bit, not quite toddlers anymore. But the best parts about those jobs was that moment when you taught somebody something new, or they figured out something new, and they just were kind of like, “Oh, I didn't I didn't know that before.”
So now here, that's a daily occurrence where I get to teach my favorite subject, and have students experience those light bulb moments of, “Oh, that's how you do it.”
What topics do you cover in your 8th grade science classroom?
Pipke: I teach general science. We're in physics right now, so forces in motion and sound. We're going to move into astronomy and earth science, and we'll finish off the year with my personal favorite, which is biology. We'll do genetics into natural selection, evolution, those kinds of topics.
How do you work to incorporate the IB principles into your curriculum?
Pipke: My classroom is very IB. IB really pushes teachers to be hands on with the students, so it melds with science very well. All the experimentation is student driven. So, the kids are designing what they want to test. They're deciding how they want to test it. And I'm just really giving them the platform to try out those ideas, which is really fun. The kids are doing all the learning, they're doing all the heavy lifting, and I'm more in a facilitator role with IB.
I'm in the perfect spot. The way that IB allows me to teach the kids and allows me to create my curriculum and really make sure the kids are getting what they need is one of my favorite parts about my job, that I really have a hand in what they're learning every day and how we're going to learn it.
What is it like for you to witness students successfully leading their own experiments?
Pipke: It's very exciting. One of my favorite things about science is actually the failure aspect of science. So, if you're here in my classroom, you're going to get to see students go through the whole design process of an experiment. I let them plan experiments that I know are going to fail because that is such a cool learning experience for them to realize, “My plan didn't work. Why didn't it work?”. And then, “What could I do to fix it in the moment, so ultimately we'll end with success?”.
They get to go through that trial-and-error process, which involves a ton of critical thinking, which is a huge skill that they're going to need for the next four years and the rest of their lives. So, science really allows me to kind of let them stumble and trip and fall, and pick themselves back up and try again.
Outside of your classroom, you’re the 8th grade team leader. What does that role entail?
Pipke: Because it’s 8th grade, we do a huge push for high school. We have a lot of families with their first high schooler ever. That can be filled with anxiety, not just for the kid, but also for the family of what that transition is like from middle school to high school. We also send kids to CIBA every year, so getting students ready for that is a really big part of being on the 8th grade team here. Because I'm team leader, I can kind of organize that for everybody and make sure that when the kids leave us, they are ready and the parents are very comfortable that they're going to be okay after they're not in this little safety net anymore.
What do you like best about your job?
Pipke: I love teaching 8th grade. I love middle schoolers. It's always a wild ride with them, so I love this age group. And then I love 8th grade science because I really want to teach them how to figure things out. Because ultimately, when they leave me and they're not mine anymore, I want them to be successful next year wherever they end up. So, it's not really what I'm teaching, but it's more like how they can kind of figure things out on their own.
As we start getting closer and closer to their last day here at Sunset, you really start to see it click in kids, those moments where they realize that the reason they're successful is because they know how to be successful. They've learned that about themselves, whether it's how to study or how to manage their time or what they need to focus on, what their priority should be.
That's a huge part of IB too. We don't just teach them the science, but we also teach them self-management skills. We're teaching them how to be a really good student and how to learn by yourself.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.