What is your name and pronouns?
Caitlin Toohey She/Her
What is your position at Lincoln?
I am a chemistry teacher.
What made you want to come to Lincoln?
I student taught here six years ago at the old building, and I just really liked the environment and the culture at the school. So I was excited when a science position opened up, and Mr. McQueen, who was my mentor teacher when I was here, told me about it, so I’m back. It’s good.
Where were you before this?
I was at Ida B. Wells for five years.
Why did you decide to enter the science/chemistry field?
So my background is actually in material science and engineering. I worked as an engineer for a number of years, and I’d always kind of thought about teaching since I was a kid, but it was just a very roundabout way of getting there. When I was working in industry as an engineer, I found I was getting really excited explaining to other types of engineers the nuances of like mental failures and stuff like that. And people would say, have you thought about teaching? Yeah, I have. So then I decided to actually just go back to school and get my teaching degree.
What are some of your hobbies?
I like to run and hike and swim. I do a lot of reading. I like to write as well and listen to music, so kind of all over the place.
What are you looking forward to this school year?
I’m looking forward to having fun in chemistry. I’m teaching some IB chemistry. IB is new to me, so I’m [hoping] even though it’s scary [it will be good]. It’s just all fun and we learn a lot.
