Formula for success

Mary "Dr. M' Miranda helps LPA students get more out of science

Mary Miranda in the new science lab at Lighthouse Preparatory Academy.
Mary Miranda in the new science lab at Lighthouse Preparatory Academy.

Science teachers at Lighthouse Preparatory Academy are thankful this year for a dedicated science laboratory.

Dr. Mary Miranda is among them, looking forward to the arrival of a permanent, life-sized skeleton to hang in the lab.

Miranda's previous two years with the academy, she first taught sixth-grade science then anatomy in the shared classroom space at Columbia College. Rarely did she conduct full-class lab assignments because of the time and logistics there.

Because the classrooms were shared, a teacher could not set up a lab in advance, nor have time to put away the equipment and specimens after the class left. Spending the set-up and dismantling time within the one-hour class period left little time for actual learning.

Now, the academy has a permanent home with a gymnasium for its sports teams, a lounge for its teachers and even an outdoor space for worship experiences.

But it's the science classes that benefited most in the actual academic enhancement.

"We will do better labs and more of them this year," Miranda said.

Known to most students as "Dr. M," she teaches one class Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the college preparatory-model school.

Although she completed medical school, Miranda is a bit of a free spirit.

She has worked as a physical therapist, has stayed home to rear her children when they were younger, and has always enjoyed art and painting.

When she learned the academy was looking for a sixth-grade science teacher, she liked the idea but hesitated at the content.

"It was interesting; I learned a lot, and I'm learning a lot still," Miranda said. "It's amazing how much more I feel I need to understand it to teach it."

Last year, she switched to teaching human anatomy - "it's so much more where I belong," she said.

"I'm a visual person, I need to see and grab hold of things."

The students can appreciate that, too, like when she brought in "my husband's skull" for a lesson, meaning she borrowed the model from his medical office.

As an adjunct professor through Central Methodist University, Miranda's students benefit from the dual-credit course.

The college-level class had a demanding lab book that was difficult to follow in the former setting.

Having the lab space to set up microscopes ahead of time and to store equipment in cabinets has been great, she said.

But learning the new terminology in her field has been a bit of a challenge. For example, parts of the body used to be named for scientists who found or studied them. Now, they have more generic names.

"I'm learning it, too, but I feel it would be a disservice for me not to teach the new terminology," she said.

As a parent of two students at Helias Catholic High School, she likes knowing they're learning the most up-to-date ideas.

When her teenagers started at St. Joseph Cathedral School, the academy hadn't opened yet. The Catholic high school was a good fit for her children in the same way she has seen the academy as a good fit for its students.

The three-days-per-week class schedule has allowed Miranda to take her class on unique experiential learning trips to the Lincoln University School of Nursing and the Westminster College Human Anatomy Lab.

One day she may complete the teacher certification process, but it is not a requirement for her current position, she said.

"Even though we are not certified as teachers, we have a rich background in our subject," Miranda said.