The newest additions to the Hastings High Science Department are Bowie Yi and Abby Hongersmeier.
Yi, who has a Masters in chemistry, is a first-year teacher who will be teaching General, Honors, and Advanced Chemistry.
Her hometown is Shenzhen, China, but she moved to the United States for college.
“I have a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from St. Olaf College and a Masters in Chemistry from the University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign,” Yi said.
As one can imagine, life in Nebraska is a lot different than what Yi’s life was like in China.
Yi describes her city, Shenzhen, as “huge and very modern: imagine Chicago but way cleaner and safer.”
When it comes to her schooling in China, there are even more differences. Compared to high school and middle school in states, China is much more individualized.
“While most people attend middle school by district, everyone takes this high school entrance exam and gets placed into different high schools in the city based strictly on their performance on this test. That was how I got into this super awesome school in my city; everyone there was pretty much on the same level academically,” Yi said.
Despite her chemistry background, Yi didn’t always want to be a teacher.
“I went to graduate school as a Ph.D. student in Organic Chemistry thinking that I’d love to work in the pharmaceutical industries after graduation but eventually came to see how it wasn’t a fitting career for me. So I left with a Masters after two years, not exactly knowing what I’d do with my background next,” Yi explained.
At that point, Yi decided to be a teacher because of her teaching experience in college and graduate school.
Hongersmeier, a fifth-year teacher who taught at Lawrence Nelson, a small school in Nebraska, before coming to Hastings High, has a Bachelor’s degree in 7-12 biology education and is almost done with her Masters in Biology.
She will be teaching General Biology and Conceptual Physical Science this year.
Hongsersmeier graduated high school from Doniphan-Trumbull and earned her degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Although she didn’t always want to be a science teacher, she loves teaching.
“I’ve always loved science, and I grew up on a farm and really enjoyed nature. I did well in science classes and it just clicked for me. Teaching is a way to share my wonder and passion,” Hongsersmeier said.
Yi and Hongersmeier are both very excited about this upcoming school year. Science is a big part of these teacher’s lives, and they can’t wait to share their knowledge with Hastings High students
