By Ginger Dawson
NKyTribune reporter
“We were just a big group of nerds sitting around, talking about science.”
This is how Caroline Burns describes family dinners when she was growing up.
In the Burns family, science is just a part of life — a big part of life.
Caroline in her house with an original painting of the view from Covington. Painting by M. Burns (no relation)
Caroline, her parents, and two sisters go at science like some families rally around a sports team. The only chart positions these people pay attention to are those on the periodic table of elements.
Her father, Patrick, is a physician. He and his wife, Peggy, met in a physics class that they both were taking in college and that pretty much set the family esprit de corps.
Over the years, when each family member discovered some new, fascinating, little science tidbit at school or work, the family pipeline opened up as the new info flowed from one to the next. One would think they were sharing a hot tip for a sports wager.
These people ARE science nerds. I have to confess, I am jealous. I’m just a regular nerd.
Caroline Burns under a gorgeous arch of white cypress vine.
Caroline’s two sisters ended up studying biology and bioengineering. These paths did not surprise anyone.
But now, here is the surprising thing — Caroline, unlike her sisters, did not study anything science-related when she went off to college.
In fact, she went practically in the opposite direction and studied theatre at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Here, she learned how to manage a theatrical production from start to finish and keep all of the wheels turning in unison. And, how to keep a director happy.
As early as ninth grade, she became stage manager for high school drama productions at Beechwood High School in Ft. Mitchell. She was good at it and was frequently excused from class to provide technical support for the elementary school productions.
Normally a little introverted, Caroline had found that theatrical production drew her out of her shell and gave her confidence and the ability to deal with people.
It was something that she found to be very gratifying. She had found her place.
Caroline Burns and James Grizzle — another science class match. (Photo by Caroline Burns)
She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Design and Production with an emphasis in stage management.
Caroline became a master at managing. It takes patience, tact, logic and the ability to think on your feet.
Think about this — an opera diva does not like her costume. In fact, she hates it. AND she is refusing to go on stage. Oh boy.
It was Caroline’s job to get this prima donna to change her mind. She did it!
This is just one example of the finely tuned talent Caroline has for what I surely think must be akin to herding cats — talented, temperamental cats.
The next few years, Caroline followed the theatrical seasons from Cincinnati to Miami, Florida to Boston, Massachusetts to Anchorage, Alaska.
Even though she loved what she did, the constant travel started to grind. She also started to notice that everyone who did what she did was her age or younger. There were no old veterans in the traces.
The writing was on the wall. She was not going to be an old veteran, either.
It was time to change course.
Kayaking (Photo by Caroline Burns)
Caroline decided to become a teacher. A science teacher, of course. She returned to school in 2009.
In 2015, she graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Education; Educator Licensure for adolescents to young adults for Integrated Science.
Integrated Science meant that she took all manner of science courses. Biology, chemistry, physics — all of the things that she might need to teach.
Of course, astronomy was one of these subjects.
James Grizzle, an information technology student — an IT geek, not a science geek, found himself short a science course for graduation, so he took Astronomy, too.
In a case of history repeating itself, James and Caroline found each other in a science class just like Caroline’s parents had. The stars had lined up again. (Forgive me for that, I couldn’t resist.)
James and Caroline married in 2013 and moved to Covington in 2014.
They love the walkability of Covington and are amazed by how much is going on there.
In fact, to Caroline, there are so many new things happening that she and James are having a hard keeping up with it all. They like to try all of the new restaurants, bars, and shops.
Caroline and James also enjoy kayaking and entertaining. Caroline cooks and James prepares the cocktails. They are both members of the Bourbon Society, which meets the second Monday of the month.
Caroline teaches at Withrow University High School in Cincinnati. She teaches physics and chemistry to juniors and seniors.
These elephant ears are enormous. Definitely African.
As you might suspect, this woman who was such a successful theatrical production manager is also a very good teacher.
She has taken all of those people skills and put them to excellent use teaching students about science. It’s a perfect combination of knowledge and skill.
But there is another facet of teaching today that has made Caroline’s particular skills even more valuable. Immigration (sometimes refugees) from many cultures has created a vastly more diverse student body.
Language barriers and lack of previous educational opportunities have created big challenges for students and teachers alike.
Many schools have found themselves with SLIFE students (students with limited or interrupted formal education).
Withrow has an ESL (English as a second language) program, but in many cases, English is the third or fourth language.
This adds a layer of complication to already challenging academic subjects.
Caroline uses all of her talents, empathy and emotional sweat to help these students succeed. It is not easy, but she is invested in the process.
One of Caroline’s proudest moments as a teacher was when one of her former students, a Pakistani refugee, came back to visit. She looked up Caroline to thank her for her teaching and mentoring.
This young lady had been sent to the U.S. in anticipation of danger in her home country. Her school, shortly after she had left, was shot-up by terrorists and classmates had been killed. After her time here, she had decided to go back to Pakistan and be a positive force. She enrolled in medical school.
End of season zinnias. Just a tiny sampling.
Caroline was visibly emotional as she recounted this experience.
Teaching is her life from mid-August to May.
In Spring, when classes are out, it’s time to recharge the batteries and get into her other passion — gardening.
I can tell you Caroline really gets into gardening. Her back yard is an amazing profusion of perennials, vegetables, and annuals.
She has elephant ears that are huge! They most certainly are African elephant ears, not Indian.
Wonderful sunflowers are in a big row, a particularly choice bleeding heart bush is out front, and there is a spectacular arbor smothered in white cypress vine.
This is just a tiny sampling. Her yard is like a visit to a very well-stocked greenhouse. It is that great!
This gardening obsession is also a family thing, like science — the Burns’ all do it and talk about it and share notes.
A gardening project underway, scientifically, of course.
Even when Caroline was in her theatre production career and traveling, there was always an attempt to squeeze in a little gardening. At one point, she had a tomato plant in a pot enduring an eleventh-floor balcony in Miami.
A favorite quote of Caroline’s is from novelist, Gail Godwin. It sums up Caroline’s approach to teaching, “Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre.”
I have to say though, that there is another element to her effectiveness as a teacher. She is very much emotionally invested in her students’ success.
That should add at least another one-half. She teaches at one hundred and fifty percent, in my opinion.
She confesses that she feels that she is too hard on herself sometimes. Her expectations of what she can deliver, in all facets of her life, sometimes seem a harsh standard. There simply is not enough time in the day to hit all of the marks. She is trying to forgive herself.
High standards sometimes exact a cost.
But not to the students who benefit.
Ginger Dawson writes about the People of NKY — the neighbors you need to know and people you need to meet and understand. The feature appears periodically at the NKyTribune. If you have ideas for subjects please share them with Ginger at ginger@fuse.net.
