"I think the most valuable lesson I can teach is the process of science," said Ford, who teaches high-school chemistry at Seven Hills School. By understanding the process -- how to pose a question, design and carry out the means to answer it, study the data and draw a conclusion -- her students can better understand scientific issues like pollution and the complex path it may take to resolve them, she said.
"A lot of kids think science is facts. But we know it's the process of solving problems," the 24-year teaching veteran said. "So I like to give them the chance to act like real scientists in the classroom. And it teaches critical thinking skills for whatever they end up doing in life."
To do that, however, Ford believes first in capturing her students' enthusiasm and imagination. On Halloween she's the Great Chemtini, invoking chemistry magic; or she may demonstrate the formation of phosphine -- flammable swamp gas -- by decking her laboratory hood in Spanish moss, turning the lights out, playing swamp noises, and reading Jack Prelutsky's "Will o' the Wisp."
"The most striking thing I remember about Mrs. Ford was how she made chemistry fun," wrote a former student to help nominate her for the award. "Before we knew it, it was the end of class and we had learned something about chemistry and were still excited about it."
She has encouraged that excitement beyond the classroom as well: she has organized recycling drives, for which her students won a civic award; coached the Science Olympiad team; and helped her Science Club members arrange their own chemistry demonstrations at schools and libraries.
Ford received her undergraduate degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1970 and her master's degree from the University of Chicago in 1972. She is a member of the ACS division of chemical education.
The James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching is sponsored by Albemarle Corp.