Victoria Thomson
Victoria Thomson
Fellowship Placement: U.S. Geological Survey
Hometown: Niantic, CT
Victoria Miranda Thomson has been teaching high school science at East Lyme High School in East Lyme, Connecticut for the past 7 years. Prior to that, she taught at New London High School for 3 years. Over the last decade, she has taught Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Integrated Science, Astronomy, and 21st Century Science. Victoria’s own high school experience was in Cascade, Montana, where she was 1 of 48 students in her graduating class. Her postsecondary education began by completing a B.S. in Entomology from Cornell University in 2006. Her high school experience in the Math/Science Upward Bound program was so rewarding to her personally that she served as a Research Leader for 2 consecutive years in the same program that she attended in high school. Afterward, she attended the University of Arizona to complete her M.Sc. in Entomology in 2010. While at the University of Arizona, she fell in love with public education through her National Science Foundation (NSF) GK12 Fellowship experience, where she regularly taught science and integrated biological research in classes for middle school students at Miles Exploratory Learning Center. Victoria prides herself in being a first-generation college graduate and being able to provide opportunities to students so that they may do the same. While at New London High School, Victoria was a part of the team involved in curriculum development and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) at her high school.
Victoria believes in culturally sustaining teaching by considering her students and community when designing and implementing curriculum. This involves what happens in the classroom as well as out of the classroom. Victoria believes in bringing the world to her classroom by inviting local community members as well as people from all over the world to virtually visit her classroom to tell their story and explain how science and data are used in decision-making. Victoria is a two-time Fund For Teachers Fellow, which involves designing a personalized professional development experience. Her first fellowship plan involved an astronomy course at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands in Spain. Her second fellowship involved exploration of offshore wind farms and people living in communities where they are found: this included the UK, as well as Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In addition to being a fellow, Victoria served as a member of the Educator Advisory Council on a national level for Fund For Teachers. In this role, she aimed to help identify strategies for increasing the number of underrepresented teachers receiving fellowships as well as the number of underrepresented students served by teachers that had received fellowships. Victoria strives to increase access to STEM education and resources for all students so that we may live in a world where we all have access to the same opportunities.
