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Local
Star Science Teacher Enriqueta Ramirez Earns Pomona
College Inspirational Young Alumni Award for 2005
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Enriqueta Ramirez, Pomona College Class of 2000, once was a
teen mom surviving on minimum-wage work and welfare. Today,
she is a one-woman magnet school, drawing students into
science work with a mix of high expectations and fun
activities.
To show how serious she is about science, Ramirez wears her
trademark white lab coat to class every day at John Marshall
Middle School in a low-income area of Pomona. Ramirez’
commitment to quality teaching in a challenging environment
made her a natural choice for Pomona College’s 2005
Inspirational Young Alumni Award.
Ramirez sets high expectations from Day One, with
consequences for rule-breaking prominently posted in the
classroom. She’s not shy about blowing her keychain whistle
to get students’ attention. But once she has students’
respect, there’s plenty of fun. Some days she’s egging kids
on to throw paper airplanes, with an academic purpose.
Ramirez has them pose questions about an experiment on the
folded-up paper, and the person who picks it up has to
answer.
It’s just one of many creative methods she uses to spark
students’ excitement about science at a middle school in a
low-income neighborhood of Pomona. “They never do the same
thing every day,” says Ramirez.
While she was attending community college years ago, an
instructor encouraged Ramirez to enroll in a summer program
at Pomona College, where she worked in a science lab with
Professor Karen Parfitt. Ramirez wound up enrolling as a
full-time student at Pomona, balancing demanding coursework
with parenting. She graduated as biology major in 2000.
She credits Pomona College with instilling in her a
commitment to excellence in the classroom. “I’m rigorous
with the kids,” she says. “I have high expectations. That
comes from Pomona.”
Today she maintains her classroom commitments despite a busy
home life, raising four kids (ages 5 to 15) as a single mom.
Ramirez loves teaching science because it’s such a hands-on
subject and she is constantly on her feet, moving from
student to student to monitor their work. “She makes
learning fun,” says student David Gonzalez.
The Inspirational Young Alumni Award was established to
honor Pomona College graduates of the last decade for their
dedication, perseverance and consistency in following their
vision of the inscription on the College's historic
Blaisdell Gates: "They only are loyal to this college who
departing, bear their added riches in trust for mankind."
Nominations can be made by faculty, staff, students or
alumni of the College, and the winner is chosen by a
committee of current students.
Previous winners include doctor/filmmaker Gretchen Berland,
Class of 1986, who recently won a $500,000 MacArthur
Foundation "genius grant." Pomona College is one of the
nation’s premier liberal arts institutions, offering a
comprehensive program in the arts, humanities, social
sciences and natural sciences. Its hallmarks include small
classes, close relationships between students and faculty,
and a range of opportunities for student research.
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