Aquatic robots and 3D printed corals: Anchorage teacher connects students to real-world science

Cat Walker stood in waist-deep water while Dimond High School students maneuvered a remote-controlled vehicle around the pool to try and clean it up, mimicking an oil spill. He was throwing a pink plastic ball.

“Good luck and save wildlife!” said Walker, who was recently selected as one of four finalists for 2024. National Teacher Award Contest.

Unruly robots navigate obstacle courses made of hula hoops and plastic rings, including a robot named Aquafina decorated with Barbie pink tape and a robot named Rover who has a talent for diving. She smiled at the students as she watched them do it.

Over time, Walker helped students troubleshoot problems. One robot was having trouble keeping her buoyant, so she suggested reducing some of its weight. One had electrical problems and her other one couldn’t go underwater.

Walker cheered when the students found a solution to the robot problem. She said that’s what she likes most about it. It’s about seeing their lightbulb moments.

Dimond High School Principal Tina Johnson-Harris, who nominated Walker for the national award, said these hands-on lessons also make her special as a teacher.

“She just wants to see, if they’re looking at science, how it applies to the real world,” Johnson-Harris said.

Most of the assignments in Walker’s class have real-world applications. Her desk is full of her 3D printed corals, small and colorful that mimic the characteristics of real corals, and she uses them to teach her students about coral bleaching.

She hopes to take her students to Whittier each year to pick up plastic from the beach, crush it into reusable plastic, and use it to construct Dimond’s picnic benches.

walker She has been teaching for 18 years and has taught science, career and technical education at Dimond for the past seven years. She said the district’s career academy will launch next year and eventually require students to choose a career path by high school.

Through her classes, she said she hopes to get more students interested in STEM careers, especially those who have traditionally been underrepresented in the field.

“She’s been very supportive of my aviation career plans,” said student McKenna Sopp. She had always wanted to be a pilot and recently completed her first solo flight.

“I’m not an engineer, but she made (the class) fun,” said Kat Arima, another of Walker’s students. She discovered her passion for marine biology and joined her school’s marine club early in high school. “She really does get you engaged.”

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Walker will find out in the spring whether she won the annual National Teacher of the Year competition held by the Council of Chief State School Officers, an education nonprofit.

Walker and the other three finalists were chosen from among 55 teachers nominated by their state or territory as state teacher of the year.

She said her biggest hope for public education in Alaska is more funding. This year’s class size is from 35 for her to 38 for him.

“Class sizes are huge,” she said. “I think the number one thing we can do to improve school performance is to improve teacher-student ratios.”

[Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly called coral plants. They are animals.]

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