Nicky Barto makes learning science fun, engaging at Hall High School

If you ask Hall High School science teacher Nicky Barto what advice she would give to her students about their future career, it would be this: “Find your passion, jump in with both feet, and do it well. If you have a career that you enjoy, you don’t really have to work in the traditional sense, do you?”

Barto can easily offer that advice because she’s lived it.

Now in her 23rd year at Hall, Barto has built a career in education around her passion for science, starting at a young age.

However, teaching wasn’t always the plan.

“I actually wanted to be a pharmacist,” Barto said. “I took all the science classes in college, applied to pharmacy school and got waitlisted. So I thought, ‘I need a backup plan.’ I started taking education courses, and I absolutely fell in love with it.

“When I finally got accepted to pharmacy school, I realized I didn’t want to go anymore. I think I’d been ignoring my calling.”

Like many educators, Barto’s calling was sparked by her junior high science teacher.

“I had a fabulous junior high science teacher named Mrs. Gorman,” Barto said. “I just loved the way she presented everything – that’s really when I started to love science.”

At Hall, Barto teaches across all science disciplines, from physical science to biology to chemistry.

Angela Carpenter, a fellow teacher at Hall High School, said that what stands out most about Barto is her ability to make science easy to understand and fun for all students.

“Mrs. Barto wants to make science accessible and engaging for all of her students,” Carpenter said. “Yet, she still expects the best from herself and from her students.”

Barto’s in-class projects have become known for their hands-on, real-world approach, whether it’s building catapults with freshmen, dissecting in biology, or making pizza to teach chemistry.

“The pizza one’s an obvious favorite by students,” Barto said with a laugh. “We learn the chemistry behind every part – we make cheese, tomato sauce, everything. They love it.”

Hall High School Principal Adam Meyer described Barto as a “career-long learner,” always growing and evolving in her teaching.

“She is constantly reflecting on her teaching,” Meyer said. “Even though she has years of teaching experience, she is always looking to create a better classroom experience.”

In addition, Meyer believes that other Hall teachers, especially newer ones, look to Barto as a role model.

“Mrs. Barto is a teacher leader,” Meyer said. “She is a go-to person for a lot of our teachers. They seek out her advice not only because she has experience but also because she is so well respected here.”

Barto doesn’t consider herself to be the type of teacher who seeks praise, but the impact she has on her students is clear.

“You had asked if I had any students who had come back and said I had inspired them, and I know I answered the question in kind of a wishy-washy way, as I am not one to pat my own back,” Barto wrote in a follow-up email shortly after her interview with Shaw Local. “I just consider ‘inspiring’ students as part of my job description, but I hope that I inspired most of the students I taught in some way, whether it was to continue in science education or to just be a good, well-rounded human being.”

Barto shared that shortly after the interview, she received a thank you email from a senior student who is set to graduate soon.

The student wrote: “Graduation is right around the corner, and I am going to be gone, moving on to big things. I just want to say thank you for always being an amazing teacher. I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher in science to get me through three years of high school. If you were to have taught a science class I could have taken my senior year, I most likely would have. So thank you for everything you have done to help me succeed.”