‘Star’ teacher turns girls on to science

• By CHARLES LUSSIER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 13, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:00 a.m.

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The trial-and-error of the scientific method is no abstraction in Linda Messina’s biology classes at the all-girls St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge. It’s a philosophy for life.

As her sophomore honors biology students struggled on Friday to understand why the predicted salt levels in the fast-growing Brassica rapa plants they had recently planted weren’t matching their predictions, Messina spoke passionately.

“No scientific research is perfect,” Messina said, “but where we learn, what we learn more from are the mistakes.”

These days, though, Messina is having to learn from her triumphs  as well.

The U.S. Department of Education recently named her an “American Star of Teaching,” one of about 50 school teachers from across the country — five of them like her are from private schools — chosen for the award. On Sept. 26, she flew to Washington, D.C., to accept the honor.

When asked about it all, Messina said: “I still don’t think I’ve earned that award. There are so many better teachers out there.”

The national award is intended for exemplary teachers, ones who not only improve student achievement, but do so using innovative strategies, and in the process make a difference in their students’ lives.

Messina acknowledged that she could fit that description. “They were looking for innovative ways of teaching, and I do  do  that,” she said.

Messina’s innovations came out of a simple desire to find real-world activities that her girls could experience and thereby learn biology better. Science, with its history of male dominance, can prove especially intimidating for young girls.

So back in 1999, Messina approached Pam Blanchard, now an assistant professor in LSU’s College of Education. Blanchard and Messina started by having students plant trees to restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.

The first year, Messina’s students planted cypress trees. Finding the trees wasn’t easy, and the students planted them during a period of extended drought.

Instead of planting the trees in the wild again, Messina and Blanchard decided to turn schools into nurseries that could grow trees for later planting in wetlands.

So was born the LSU Coastal Roots program. Last year, students across Louisiana planted about 3,000 trees. Currently, 24 schools are participating in the program and Blanchard is expecting another 11 or 12 to join this year.