Although there are new teachers at Chamblee High School every year, it’s particularly rare for there to be a teacher in their first year of teaching and who’s a CHS alum. Alexandra Towner, one of Chamblee’s newest science teachers, is both of those. She teaches biology and AP Environmental Science (APES), and although it’s her first year teaching, she’s spent a while learning about science.
“I went to undergrad at Georgia Tech, where I majored in biology. And then later in my undergrad, I figured out I wanted to try and teach, and so then I went to Georgia for my MAT [Masters of Arts in Teaching] and science education. And now I’m here,” she said.
Towner seems to have a teaching style that’s different from more traditional methods. However, it seems that her students, including Justin Sampson (‘23) are more than happy with it.
“We had a project recently where we were all assigned environments, and we had to pretend to be there. It was weird, but it was fun,” Sampson said.
Towner explained why this teaching style is beneficial for not only her but also for her students as well.
“I think my style is more so focused on student engagement, having them do activities and labs and actively learning. I don’t like to stand up and talk at people all day,” Towner said.
One student in her AP Environmental Science class, Yonatan Nemenman (‘25), thinks that student engagement is one of her strong points.
“One of her strengths is definitely connecting with her students,” Nemenman said.
While she clearly has a passion for making sure her students have fun in class, Towner still puts a high emphasis on the learning aspect of education. She is taking measures to ensure that her students get everything they need to succeed academically, especially in her AP Environmental Science classes. This is because they are going to face the AP exam for the class next May.
“For APES, we have a flipped classroom,” said Towner. “So the material is provided in short videos each week, and the quizzes are over those videos, like reviews. But they’re also assessments of students’ understanding of the videos, kind of for me to get feedback on where the students are. And then during the week we do activities and labs, applying that knowledge to allow for a higher level of thinking for the students.”
With her combination of using these videos and her group work to keep students engaged, Towner as well as her students see find gold in this form of teaching.
“I think it’s a strength because her group work is very well-organized. We all know what we’re doing. In some other classes, when we do group work, nobody in the group knows what we’re actually supposed to be doing,” Sampson said.
Conor Coy (‘27), a student in Towner’s Biology 1 class, also feels hopeful about this class.
“I think [Towner] has a good curriculum, and I think she’s a good teacher,” Coy said.
Besides working hard to make sure her students learn in the best ways possible, Towner also has many fitting interests and hobbies outside of school.
“I like to run, to hike, pretty much anything outside, lots of nature. At Georgia Tech, I played on the club ultimate frisbee team, so I also really love that sport. It’s a lot of fun, and I also love softball,” she said.
Towner helps coach the JV softball team here at CHS, and she was a standout player during her own career as a Chamblee softball player. After starting out as a Chamblee student and now being a teacher and coach here, her life seems to have come full circle.
“I always loved science. I also played softball and I swam and outside of school, I would go on runs with friends, so I haven’t changed too much since high school,” Towner said.
All in all, she is excited for her year at CHS.
“I guess it’s exciting to be here and get to come back to Chamblee having been a student here myself. It’s fun to come back.”
Towner’s students are excited and hopeful to have her as a teacher this year as well.
As Sampson put it, “It’s gonna be a good year.”
