Melanie Vacchio

Bio:
Melanie Vacchio brings a wonderful opportunity to her students: to learn from someone who has spent 20 years doing scientific research in immunology at NIH. "This is my second career," she says, explaining that she wanted to change to teaching to convey excitement about science to high school students. "Science relates to everything, and I especially like teaching environmental science, because it's so relevant for kids."

Ms. Vacchio was part of NIH's "Transitioning from Lab to Classroom" program, and completed her "student" teaching at B-CC. The best part about her job? "The kids are absolutely fantastic!" she says.

When not wearing her teacher hat, she enjoys sculpting, and has shown her work at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. "But I don't get much opportunity to sculpt these days."