On the first day of school Alexandra Patterson, teacher for Chemistry Honors, assigned “families,” or the people that students sit with every quarter as well as announced a game the class would play before all tests, called GrudgeBall. Little did she know that that decision would enhance student engagement and celebrate her unique style of teaching – a method aimed at involved and participate.

Despite its reputation of being one of the toughest subjects in school, Honors Chemistry at The Morgan High School has become a surprising favorite among students due to the engaging labs, creative lessons, and a teacher who turns complex into fun.

Patterson believes for a student to really engage and understand a concept fully, it’s necessary to collaborate with peers, specifically with big, confusing tasks. If a student doesn’t understand, “I make them question with their table group, and if it’s still unanswerable then they come to me,” Patterson says.

“Sometimes science classes aren’t super collaborative even with the lab portions, so I think kids work best when they are working together,” Patterson says.

Each family gets to choose a family name, which helps the team building and becoming more comfortable with each other. Specifically in H period chemistry, where one table group is.

In period A Honors Chemistry, sophomore Hope Savage states, “When Mrs. Patterson asked us what our team name was, we froze up and one friend at my table shouted “vitamins” and so we just went with it…it helped in the long run for our table as we used this joke to grow.”

Families acquire points by mostly participation but also other simple activities like cleaning their table first or even being the quietest while others are talking. “Having an early class at 7:30 in the morning is hard, especially learning a tough subject, but students started off in group conversation, even Mrs. Patterson joined in and our bond in class just kept growing stronger,” Hope Savage also adds on.

Every table is determined to work towards earning the most participation points for a reward being a brownie sundae party at the end of every quarter. “Anytime you can win something, I feel like the kids are more active and participating,” Patterson says.

Honors Chemistry may be packed with formulas and tough concepts, but in Mrs. Patterson class, studying feels more of a fun competition between classmates rather than a chore.

Sophomore Saoirse O’beirn, a student in this class, states, “chemistry is a tough class, but I am a math centered person so when we do lessons with math, I understand it and overall I love being in class with Mrs. Patterson because she creates a really fun environment.”

GrudgeBall is one of the major activities students are excited for before a big test. For this game, each family works together to answer questions. If chosen correctly, there’s an opportunity for more points by shooting a ball 10 feet from the basket and making it in.

There were many different types of GrudgeBall, but Patterson put a twist on the rules so it would work best for her specific classes. While competing fiercely, they absorb knowledge, turning the unit into a fun and effective learning experience. This activity ended up working really well as her students understood the lesson but also had fun. This was Patterson idea of being a teacher

With creative review games and high energy teaching, even the most challenging units become something to look forward to.

Patterson worked hard to prove herself, not only to her teacher but to herself. She knew Chemistry was a hard subject and did everything she could to try and make her students understand it more. “I work hard everyday, not just to prove I can do it, but to make sure my students believe they can too,” Patterson says.

Patterson attended Northeastern and then transferred to UConn where she majored in chemistry. School came easy to Patterson even though “I had a tough teacher who pushed me to do really well even when sometimes it felt like it was impossible” Patterson describes.

This teacher was with Patterson in three classes, twice for chemistry and once in AP chemistry. Patterson held her head high while this teacher set the exemplary example of how she should take every challenge. Patterson learned from this and went above and beyond every step she took.

“I love teaching and putting an engaging twist on education, it makes me feel like I won as a teacher,” Patterson says.