BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A Birmingham chemistry teacher is competing in a national contest that could bring Bill Nye the Science Guy to her school and fund a mobile classroom to reach students struggling with chronic absenteeism.
Tandy Dolin Petrov, P.D. Jackson-Olin (J.O.) High School’s Teacher of the Year, is competing in The Planetary Society’s national contest called “The Search for America’s Favorite Teacher.”
The winner receives $25,000, a school assembly with Bill Nye, a trip to Hawaii and a feature in Reader’s Digest.
Dolin Petrov wants to use the prize money to create the ‘Magic City Science Bus,’ a mobile classroom designed to reach students in neighborhoods affected by chronic absenteeism and violence.
“I have this huge dream to actually go around to our cul-de-sacs where we don’t have our students coming to class, where there’s chronic absenteeism, even if there’s gang violence and other type of violence,” Dolin Petrov said. “I want to go into those places and help these kids learn.”
The teacher, who calls herself Miss Frizzle, said she plans to hire students as teaching assistants to work on the bus.
“If we can take our bus from J.O. and go out there and I can hire students to be my teaching assistants, we might actually start seeing a growth in knowledge and we might actually see a community changing and coming together,” she said.
Dolin Petrov said the contest prizes also hold personal meaning. She said she and her father have never been to Hawaii and a trip would be on their bucket list. She also said she grew up reading Reader’s Digest.
“To have my students and myself in our school in Ensley, in Birmingham City, represented in Reader’s Digest, that would be phenomenal,” she said. “I want Birmingham to be on the map, and I want my school. I want Jackson-Olin to be known as the benchmark.”
Dolin Petrov needs the most votes to win the contest. Voting is open daily. Voting for the top 5 ends Thursday, April 16 at 7 p.m. You can click or tap here to vote for Petrov.
Dolin Petrov and some of her students spoke with WBRC during the Artemis II mission. They emphasized how history-making the mission was and how it was important to see representation in the crew.
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