By Judy Truesdell
Staff Writer

When M.J. Tykoski was an eighth-grader, a female science teacher challenged and inspired her; now she’s doing the same for her students at Cooper Junior High in Wylie.

Mrs. Tykoski, who is in her 15th year of teaching and her fifth year in Wylie ISD, has been honored with the Science Teachers Association of Texas’ Middle School Teacher of the Year Award 2009. She’ll be recognized at the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching in Galveston in November and will receive $1,000 and a commemorative plaque.

Mrs. Tykoski was recognized at the October meeting of the Wylie ISD Board of Trustees for this accomplishment. Superintendent Dr. H. John Fuller noted that there is only one such award given in the state. “We’re so proud that this honor goes to Wylie and Cooper Junior High,” he said.

Mrs. Tykoski said her father was the first person to open her eyes to the world of science; he taught her about topics ranging from stars and planets to symbols on the periodic table of elements. But it was an eighth-grade science teacher named Mrs. Christine Rhoades in Mrs. Tykoski’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who encouraged her in a new and different way.

“I craved further knowledge and challenges in science,” Mrs. Tykoski said, “but through seventh grade, my teachers either had little scientific knowledge or had an attitude of amused tolerance toward my enthusiasm.”

The tides turned, however, when she met Rhoades. “Here was a woman who knew a lot about science. All my previous science teachers had been men, and seeing this confident, science-minded female captured my attention.”

Mrs. Tykoski said Rhoades “pounced” on her love of science and challenged her, taking her questions and interest seriously. By the end of the eighth grade, Mrs. Tykoski knew she wanted to carry the torch handed to her by her mentor.

“I knew I wanted to be a science teacher. I wanted to be to some young lady what Mrs. Rhoades was to me … a role model to show that girls can excel in scientific fields.”

Indeed, Cooper’s students, male and female, have a teacher who sets an extraordinary example. For the past 11 years, she has worked with the astronomy department at The University of Texas at Austin on a NASA public outreach program called the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy. Scientists on the UT campus built one of the instruments for SOFIA, an instrument called the Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrometer that works with infrared light. (According to the UT Astronomy Web site, this instrument is used for studying how molecular gas turns into stars and planets.) Mrs. Tykoski was nominated for the Science Teachers Association award by Claire Hodgin, one of the teachers with whom she worked on the SOFIA EXES project. “One of the astronomers, Dr. Mary Kay Hemenway, supported my nomination as did Tami Nauyokas, my principal here at Cooper.”

Photo by Judy Truesdell M.J. Tykoski gathers her Cooper Junior High students outside for a lesson on a method of astronomical measurement called parallax. Tykoski was named the top middle school science teacher in the state by the Science Teachers Association of Texas.

Nauyokas said, “We feel very fortunate to have her as a teacher at Cooper Jr. High. Her enthusiasm, love of science and innovativeness in teaching have greatly benefited our students. Mrs. Tykoski is very committed to helping all of her students to become successful, not only in her class, but also in their future high school science courses.”   

“Mrs. Tykoski’s statewide recognition is not surprising to those of us in the district who know her,” Fuller said. “Her classes are popular with both students and parents for being interesting and innovative … She is an asset to our district and to public education.”

Though her peers may not have been shocked, Mrs. Tykoski said she was “very surprised” to find out she had won. “There are a lot of great middle school science teachers out there, and to be selected is a huge honor,” she said. “I received the e-mail telling me I won in the middle of my third period class. I started screeching and jumping up and down, and they thought I had finally lost my mind.”

Mrs. Tykoski received her Bachelor of Science degree in education from the University of Michigan. Her husband, Dr. Ron Tykoski, is also in a scientific field: he’s a vertebrate paleontologist. “He studies dinosaurs,” she said. When the Tykoskis got married, they moved from Michigan to Austin where her husband went to graduate school. Upon completion of his doctorate, he took a job at the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. “I started looking for jobs and researching the districts in the DFW area,” Mrs. Tykoski said. “Wylie was clearly one of the top choices. I was offered a job teaching Integrated Physics and Chemistry at Wylie High School. When eighth grade started at Cooper, I was given the opportunity to come here.” She teaches eighth-grade science and Pre-AP science and was Cooper’s Teacher of the Year for 2008-’09.

Her education has not stopped; this past summer, she spent a week helping with infrared astronomy research at NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. “I was able to write four lessons based on my experience there, all of which I plan to use in my classroom,” she said.

In January 2010, Mrs. Tykoski will attend the American Astronomical Society meetings in Washington, D.C. to learn more about radio, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray astronomy. “We have a new state science curriculum starting next year, and one of the new requirements is that eighth-grade science students will look at how all types of light, not just visible, are used in astronomy. Going to the AAS meetings is a perfect way for me to get great information to help me prepare engaging lessons for my students next year.”

The Tykoskis live in Nevada with their two children; Stephen is a third-grader at Akin Elementary, and Christine, named for Mrs. Tykoski’s mentor, is 2. Mrs. Tykoski said that, when has free time, she enjoys spending it with her family, as well as scrapbooking and cake decorating. She also said she plans to pursue her master’s degree when her children are older.

For now, she said, she’s proud to have won this award and enjoys being part of the Cooper family. “I am excited to be a part of the district science writing team and helping shape the future of science in Wylie ISD.”