Addisen McDonald

Chemical accomplishments. Paula Irwin presents at the National Science Teacher Association conference. (Courtesy of Paula Irwin.)

Chemistry teacher Paula Irwin recently attended and presented at the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) conference, held March 26–29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This prestigious event marked Irwin’s first national-level presentation, where she spoke about guiding lab experiments that both engage students and align with new Pennsylvania state standards.

“Throughout the years, I have been able to learn what interests students, and all I want to do is pass this information to teachers,” Irwin said.

Although this was the largest conference she has spoken at, it wasn’t her first experience presenting to educators.

“Back in 2007 I reached out to the science coordinator for the Syracuse City School District, because that’s where I used to teach, and I wanted to do a presentation to all the science teachers in that district,” Irwin said. “I did one more presentation in Syracuse, before I moved to Northern Virginia where I taught for 11 years.”

She previously led sessions on using Vernier technology in classrooms—equipment that was often overlooked and underutilized. Over the years, Irwin advanced from presenting at the district level in Syracuse to the state level for nine years.

Irwin joined the Altoona teaching staff in 2022 and has since made a noticeable impact on students, transforming how they engage with science. Senior Elliana Saylor appreciated Irwin’s hands-on teaching style.

“Every marking period, we had a project assigned to us,” Saylor said. “For instance, during the Christmas break, we were given the opportunity to select an element from the periodic table and design an ornament based on it. Her passion for science and genuine care for her students inspired me to remain curious and never stop learning.”

Heading into her NSTA presentation, Irwin received strong support from her students and colleagues.

“The NSTA is a big deal and prestigious opportunity just to attend, and even more so to present at,” science department head Jessica Hogan said. “Mrs. Irwin’s presentation looked spectacular and was well received by her audience. In addition, Mrs. Irwin networked with other science teachers and science vendors and brought back lots of ideas for our department.”

Irwin presented on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised by the large number of chemistry teachers in attendance and the overwhelmingly positive feedback.

“Following my presentation I had a lady, around the same age as me, who had attended many previous conferences and sessions that weekend and believed mine was the best,” Irwin said. “That made me feel really wonderful, and it made it all worthwhile. I was very thankful that the district gave me the opportunity to actually go and attend, and they helped fund the expense of it.”

“They learned a lot of new things they didn’t know. They got some great information, inspiring things that they could use in their own classes when they got home,” she said.

Looking ahead, Irwin hopes to continue sharing her knowledge.

“I’m hopeful to be able to do some of the workshops at the district level, where they bring in local school districts from neighboring counties for me to present to them a lot of the same stuff that I presented at the national level,” she said.