“I have this running joke: Why do I even teach anything?” Chemistry Teacher Ms. Alison Valentine admitted. “People remember about three things from their high school chemistry class: PV=NRT, Avogadro’s 6.022×10^23, and maybe a lab experience that was for some reason particularly memorable. It’s honestly my yearly existential crisis — why do I even teach what I teach?” 

Ms. Valentine came to realize over time, “I’m truly not teaching content; I’m teaching critical thinking.” Ms. Valentine, new this year to the science faculty, has quickly shown her students that she is more interested in shaping how students think than how quickly they can recite memorized information. 

In Ms. Valentine’s classroom, questions matter just as much as answers — if not more. She mentioned, “I truly don’t want to just sit there and tell you things. I want you to figure things out and go on into the world doing the same.” She added, “My ultimate hope is that you will eventually go on and ask those same questions that I ask you in class.” 

One of her students in Honors Chemistry, Hanrui Liu (‘28), remarked that “Ms. Valentine has not only been extremely encouraging when it comes to actually learning, but she always finds an opportunity to creatively apply class concepts to more tangible, real-life processes… even as far as how something like carbonated drinks work! I think that’s where the real value is, though.”

What ultimately drew Ms. Valentine to Bishop’s was the energy that she sensed on campus — the willingness of students to actually be excited about learning alongside her. She sensed the eagerness — among both students and colleagues — to ask questions. She laughed, “I’m a big nerd, and I like to nerd out about things, and it’s fun to do that with my students.” 

Outside of the classroom, Ms. Valentine’s interests stretch far beyond the periodic table. In addition to her degrees in Chemistry and Education, Ms. Valentine has a degree in Theater and Performance Studies. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park on the finance and strategic planning committee. 

“On a Saturday night, it’s not uncommon for me to be at The Globe seeing a show!” Ms. Valentine said. “I love the performing arts and was definitely a theater kid.” Also a lifelong dancer, she still takes ballet classes at least twice a week. 

When she isn’t immersed in the arts, Ms. Valentine gravitates outdoors. She explained, “I love being outside, whether it be hiking, spending time at the beach, skiing, or scuba diving, I spend as much time as I can outdoors.” She added, “I also love to travel. I’m hardly home during school breaks, as I’ll visit family, friends, or explore new countries.  Last summer, I travelled for about six weeks to six different countries!”

Nonetheless, it is in the conversations that drift slightly off course that Ms. Valentine finds the signal that she’s connecting with her students in class. “If they didn’t feel comfortable,” she said, “they wouldn’t even go off-topic in the first place. Going off on a tangent is a development of curiosity, and I love that they ask questions.” 

“I love that Ms. Valentine likes to answer all of my random questions,” Tom Adelizzi (‘28) laughed. “I mean, I found out ammonia and bleach — household products — can make poisonous chlorine gas, which was definitely something… and, according to Ms. Valentine, alkali water is scientifically a scam!” 

Her path to teaching Chemistry began with a childhood of being raised by engineers, her parents, and in a class with someone who would become a life-changing high school mentor. She explained, “I really enjoyed chemistry and physics in high school… I could understand so much of the world.” 

As an undergraduate student, Ms. Valentine was a teaching assistant (TA) for three years. She spent the first year running lab sections, the second running an outreach section – with 50-400 students attending –, and the third as a head TA overseeing all sections, TA’s, and ~400 undergraduate students. After that, she completed a Stanford Teacher Education Program as a graduate student. “Running those sections was crazy, but so cool. It gave me agency to do what I wanted, but it was crazy to think about the numbers,” she added.

Her teaching philosophy grew from years of observing how students learn — from bustling college lecture halls to the dorms she lived in while teaching at an all-girls Catholic school in Monterey, California. Over time, one truth became clearer: learning seems to stick when students feel ownership over their thinking. Ms. Valentine has carried this outlook and continues to apply it as she continues her first year at Bishop’s.

Despite the challenges of transitioning to a new school, Ms. Valentine expressed her gratitude for the faculty culture at Bishop’s that encourages experimentation in teaching as much as the experiments themselves. She said, “There is this environment among the faculty to grow and do better, and to try new things. There is actual excitement.” Ms. Valentine mentioned the value of working closely alongside Chemistry Teacher Dr. Pamela Reynolds, who, as she noted, “has been such a great mentor. She is so incredibly smart.”  

Dr. Reynolds explained, “What initially caught our attention [about Ms. Valentine] was her student interaction and wit during her classroom interview last spring. I love the banter of a great discussion in a science classroom.” She added, “Ms. Valentine is a professional! Her command of the material is outstanding, and her delight in the classroom is infectious!” 

As Dr. Reynolds approaches her own retirement, she added, “Time happens, and the new guard has arrived! Ms. Valentine can take on my Advanced Honors Chemistry curriculum, make it her own, and continue to build our strong Chemistry program. I sense that Ms. Valentine will be key to the changing of the guard in the Science Center.”

Izzy Rizo (‘28), another student, said, “I’m beyond grateful. Ms. Valentine has taught me lessons greater than just bonding and intermolecular forces… I’ve learned how to apply discipline and dedication to new study strategies – these are skills that will stick with me throughout my life.”

As Ms. Valentine settles into her first year at Bishop’s, her presence is already felt in the way that her classroom has become a space that fosters not just more conversation, but more curiosity. Each step of her own journey has sharpened her belief that science education is more about learning to question.