Mr. Ben Legel has been a dedicated science teacher and student services administrator at NYHS for nearly three years. 

Q: Could you explain what you do in your role as student services administrator?

A: I help create student support plans for students with particular learning needs. Whether it could be vision problems or having difficulties with ADHD, all sorts of stuff. In education, we call that making schools equitable. So everyone has equal access to their education. And then I also track student data with their map (placement) testing. I send [test results] out to the parents, and the teachers, and then meet with teachers about it. 

Q: What’s your favorite thing to teach?

A: I’d say there is a tie between biology and AP environmental science. AP environmental science is my master’s degree and biology is my bachelor’s degree. Biology has always been special to me, I’d say. I’ve always been fascinated with nature since I was in grade school. At four or five years old I always caught bugs and looked at them. I also grew plants in middle school. I think that’s where my love of nature and science started. 

Q: What’s your favorite plant?

A: Probably a Monstera Albo. The white ones are my favorite right now. 

Q: What’s your favorite scientific topic to learn about?

A: As a grade school or middle schooler student, my favorite thing to learn about was anything about insects or bugs. When I was a kindergartener and a first grader, I wanted to be an entomologist (someone who studies insects). Which is probably what got me into science in the first place. And then as I got older, I got into environmental science. And then today, I’m always keeping up and reading about cellular biology stuff. Whether it’s cancer treatment or environmental science(mostly focused on climate change and mitigating climate change) that’s the kind of stuff I study and keep current with. Those are the topics and categories I’ve always loved to learn about. I guess I’m still a student, still always learning.

Q: Do you still take courses on science?

A: I finished a master’s degree a few years ago in environmental management and environmental policy. So that was a couple of years of working really hard on that. And then now, I’m focusing my studies on becoming a better teacher and getting better at my craft. I’m undergoing the national board certification. That’s a long process of submitting paperwork, submitting video clips of my classes, doing lots of paperwork, and preparing a portfolio. So right now, I’m not focusing on science, but focusing on education. Pedagogy, they call it.

Q: Do you have any stories from your teaching career that you would like to share?

A: I think there’s a lot, this is my ninth year of teaching. I finished my first year of teaching in Jackson, Illinois. When I finished, all my biology students signed a little lab coat for me and my astronomy students adopted a star for me, that’s the little certificate in my classroom in 201. It was a really sweet memory; there was a cake involved— it was nice. 

Q: What do you like about teaching at NYHS particularly?

A:I enjoy the small community, so you get to know your students more. I taught at schools where I had two hundred students. So having only thirty students that I teach has been a lot better. I can meet and talk and get to know every student. That’s probably one of my favorite things, being a small school.

Q: can you tell me more about why you love the environment here?

A: I feel like the students in the school are really motivated about learning. I see that within the classroom, the students all do a good job of asking questions and being genuinely curious. So I feel like, in this small setting, I really get to hear all the things you guys are curious about. So I think that’s just a kind of a benefit of our having our small size getting to hear everybody’s little questions and get to them explore things deeper. 

Q: Do you have any hobbies?

A: I love cooking a lot, it’s definitely a hobby. Not so much recently, but a hobby I’d love to get back to is dance. East Coast Swing and Blues Fusion are the dance styles that I know. I also like hiking and reading. I read a lot of nonfiction, but I’ve been trying to read some more fiction lately. Reading, cooking, gardening, and riding my bicycle in the summer. I play some video games here and there a little bit too. I play Magic The Gathering with Mr. Yale and Mr. Jones [other NYHS staff members].  Also listening to live music. I was just at a three-port music festival in Boise over the weekend. 

Q: How did you get into dance?

A: I moved to Washington in 2017 from Illinois. Then I basically kind of stumbled across dance in Olympia. I was looking to make new connections and make new friends. I had moved to a new state and left all my friends behind. Everyone was so wonderful. Some of my best friends are from that dance community. There’s a really good community for dance out in Seattle. I never danced a step in my life before I moved here. It was so fun and people were so nice and welcoming. 

Q: What are some things that you like about Washington state?

A: I love that it has so much nature. How much green there is. When I was a high schooler, I visited the Washington coast and just drove down the coast and saw Mount St. Helensת some national parks, and the redwood trees in Northern California. And I just fell in love with the Pacific Northwest scenery. But I also really like that people in Washington seem to care, even if it’s not apparent. I feel like I noticed that everyone seems to care a lot about the environment. I’m from Illinois and I can’t think of anyone that really talks about going out into nature and enjoying nature. Unless it’s about hunting. I think you can’t help but think about nature when you live in Washington. People treat and respect the environment more here. 

Q: What inspired you to go into teaching?

A: That’s the million-dollar question for every teacher. I think in middle school, I knew I wanted to be an educator. Partially because I was naturally good at science, and helped a lot of other students understand science. My peers would come to me for help or support. I just kind of fell in love with it. I was always in love with science; and just in love with helping others learn science. And ever since middle school, that’s what I wanted to do. I also had some really good teachers along the way who fostered my love for science and education. I always tell people, I get paid to talk about my favorite thing every day. And I think this is a great group to work with. The students are about to really start their adult life. This is the last step before some of them may never go to school again or some of them start their career. I think high school education, it’s what I want to do forever.