Top Teachers
Saturday, November 29, 1997
Name: Nancy Rocheleau
Position: Teacher, Sacred Hearts Academy
Age: 49
Education: University of Delaware, University of Hawaii
Pastimes: Paddling
Nancy Rocheleau tells parents not to breathe a word about how hard chemistry is to their daughters. Making chemistry exciting
"They're all very capable of doing well in chemistry," she said. "With that assumption, that's half the battle with science and math."
Rocheleau, who has taught at Hawaii's Catholic schools for the past 25 years -- the last seven at Sacred Hearts -- makes it her goal to teach students that science should be embraced, not feared.
One former student who said she hated science pleaded with counselors after they advised her to take chemistry.
"I had a bad feeling about it -- I didn't know what chemistry was about," said Abigail Martin, who graduated from Sacred Hearts in 1993. Rocheleau's chemistry class changed her mind.
"She made it seem so simple," said Martin. "She didn't make it intimidating or talk over our heads -- she put it at our level."
Rocheleau supplements textbooks with real-life experiences and problems to show her students how science applies to their lives. Her excitement rubbed off on Martin, who went on to major in chemistry at the University of Hawaii and began teaching it this year at Sacred Hearts alongside her former teacher.
Rocheleau is especially proud of her students' accomplishments. Her students have taken first place honors in the senior research division of the Honolulu Police Department's forensic science fair for the past four years.
