Mrs. Vandewalle has been teaching chemistry at Oak Hills High School since 1995, almost 30 years. Vandewalle is one of the chemistry teachers here at OHHS. Vandewalle went to Purdue University, where she majored in chemistry and minored in math. Vandewalle has been able to increase many students’ understanding of chemistry, as well as becoming a favorite teacher to many.
Vandewalle is an experienced educator at OHHS; she was even able to experience construction and renovations to the school building when the new wing, commons, and new gym were added to the campus. Vandewalle said she had to move classrooms multiple times during construction: “My very first room was not a science room at all; it was where Mr. Cocklin’s current room is. It had no sinks or anything that we needed for chemistry labs. Then I was in the middle hallway where Mr. Rettig’s room is, and that was fine because it actually was a science room and we could do labs. Then finally, when the new wing opened, they moved all the chemistry teachers to those rooms because they had all the safety features we needed for chemistry classes.”
Vandewalle has also seen changes other than just the building: “The dress code has certainly changed since I started, and I would say also obviously the cell phones; there was no such thing as cell phones when I started, and to watch it grow since I started.”
Vandewalle’s favorite class to teach has been AP Chemistry, which is often said to be the hardest AP course. However, it can be easily said that Vandewalle is an excellent chemistry teacher, as she was able to get 20 students to earn a 3 or higher on the AP exam for the 2023-2024 school year. Although this may not sound like much, the pass rate for the AP Chemistry exam is only around 50 percent.
Vandewalle’s least favorite class to teach has been level two Physical Science, which she luckily only had to teach for one year. That being said, Vandewalle has explained that she still enjoys teaching things as simple as Physical Science or level two chemistry, as she gets to explain the basics of chemistry and foster knowledge that students are just now opening up to. It is apparent that Vandewalle has a passion for chemistry, and that she loves getting to teach it and explain it to students who also share an interest in the subject.
Vandewalle also teaches Honors Organic Chemistry, which has greatly helped students who continue to major in chemistry, as most schools do not offer a course that dives deep into organic chemistry and the study of carbon and hydrogen-based compounds.
In summation, it can be determined that Vandewalle has helped many students with chemistry and may even be the reason that some Oak Hills alumni have decided to pursue chemistry in college; which leads us to a question that many of us may still be thinking about; what about chemistry does Vandewalle like so much? “Everything! How it explains what you see all around you. It can say why your hair is curly or straight, there is just so much…”
