Ms. Leah Steinbronn, both a wonderful physics teacher and a wonderful person to talk to, joined us here at the Academies of Loudoun toward the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Ms. Steinbronn has brought her expertise and enthusiasm for learning to teach AOS and AET classes. 

When asked about how it has been adjusting to the AOS curriculum compared to her previous work, she explained that it has been great to combine math and all the branches of science in her teaching, as it is how her mind naturally functions even prior to working here.

Ms. Steinbronn has lived in three countries–Botswana, South Africa, and the U.S.–and had a long-term stay in Barbados. Out of the numerous places she’s traveled, including London, Rome, and Egypt, her absolute favorite is South Africa. Here, she had a memorable high school experience with amazing classmates and phenomenal teachers. In fact, her high school math teacher inspired her to become a teacher. 

“They just set me up to love what I do now,” she said, reflecting on the impact her teachers had on her life.

An avid reader, Ms. Steinbronn decided that her Kindle would be the nonessential item she would need if she was stranded on an island (given that she also had a solar charger). She would be content with the thousands of books she has accumulated on her Kindle over the past 10 years.

When asked about her favorite female scientists to spotlight, Ms. Steinbronn enthusiastically pulled a book from the abundant collection in her classroom. She flipped through the book Scientist, Scientist, Who Do You See? while passionately explaining the unique accomplishments of numerous female scientists, including Grace Hopper, for whom the computer bug was named when she discovered a moth had to be removed from a computer’s hardware to fix errors it was causing. She also explained how Ada Lovelace came up with the concept of a computer algorithm even before electricity was invented. Emilie du Châtele, in the process of translating Isaac Newton’s work from English to French, came up with the math for the conservation of momentum. Ms. Steinbronn mentioned that Catherine Johnson is one of her favorites because she was based in Virginia, and she came up with the geometry to help predict landing when going from circular motion to linear motion. 

“Einstein…Maxwell…Darwin…those are the ones people actually know” Ms. Steinbronn talked about the importance and difficulty in giving female scientists the credit they deserve for their work. “There are way more people who we have no idea about, and how do you even begin to find their names?”

In the picture, you can see the lovely Ms. Steinbronn holding Scientist, Scientist, Who Do You See?

 

written by Neeha Mikkilineni

edited by Saanvi Gutta and Sarasi Rout