Worthingway Middle School Science Teacher: Clarie Cressman

Claire Cressman, a sixth-grade science teacher at Worthingway Middle School, began her musical journey at a young age, exposed to classical music by her father and an organist at her church. At age three, she started dancing, a passion she continued for fifteen years, with tap being her favorite style. In fifth grade, she joined her school's band, playing the clarinet because her name was Claire and it sounded like "clarinet". She continued with choir throughout her high school experience. Although she did not pursue music in college at Ohio State, she knew she wanted to incorporate it into her future classroom.Claire incorporates music into her science classroom because she believes it is a significant part of a teenager's life and helps them remember concepts. She creates songs for specific topics by changing the lyrics of popular songs, such as adapting Chappell Roan's "Hot to Go" to "Hot to Cold" for a lesson on thermal energy, and using Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" for another topic. She has a YouTube channel where she posts these songs and music videos with her students. Her inspiration for this teaching method came from two of her own teachers: her third-grade teacher, Mrs. U, who taught her to spell "awesome" with a song, and her fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Steinmetz, who taught her the definition of "range" by having them act like Beyoncé.Claire’s favorite part of incorporating music is seeing the students get excited and having them tell her that her songs helped them on tests. She noted that sometimes students are shy and will just stare at her, especially in the morning classes. However, she keeps doing it because she believes it is part of showing her students that they can be themselves and find joy in learning. Claire feels that if students see their teacher being themselves, they are much more likely to do it as well.