The Conejo Valley has earned its reputation as a center of excellence in education through the high caliber of its students and its hardworking teachers. In May 2023, the Ventura County Office of Education bestowed its highest honor to Mrs. Debbie Dogancay (pronounced Doh-an-chai) at Newbury Park High School. Dogancay, a 22-year veteran of the Chemistry Department and coordinator of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, was recognized by her peers as Teacher of the Year, 2023.
“I see teaching as a calling in a way, and I find that the more I put into it, the more I get out of it,” says Dogancay, who was a graduate of the Florida Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and science education. “It was a pleasure from the beginning.”
One step into her classroom and her joy in teaching becomes evident. Among the ubiquitous chemistry lab safety posters, periodic tables and eye wash stations, is abundant evidence of humor. Students will find moles—many many little mousy moles in all sorts of costumes perched around the room. (A mole is a unit of measurement in chemistry and this is a play on the word.) Cylinders were decorated with doll-sized mortarboards in celebration of the seniors graduating the next day. “These are graduated cylinders! Get it?” Dogancay smiled at her seniors. (Another chemistry joke.)
This kind of attention to details that help students see humor in “hard science” is what makes her a favorite. Her keen interest in finding real-life applications and illustration of the principles of chemistry (and physics) are what make it possible to recall lessons outside the classroom or at least later in the year. There will always be the foundational knowledge based on rote memorization, but Dogancay is quick to show her students where the cool factors lie. Even on the last day of school she was illustrating concepts such as how atoms bond to each other with a “geometry of molecular bonding” bubble lab. Students used molecular shapes they constructed in a previous lab, then immersed them in dish detergent to see the three-dimensional bonding planes.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life!” someone exclaimed as he pulled his molecule out of the solution and used a pipette to insert a smaller bubble where the carbon atom would be. Electrostatic bonding was even more exciting as Mrs. Dogancay made a bubble trampoline and encouraged bubbles to collide. “What the whoa!?”
Comments like these are wonderful proof of how perceptions and perspectives can change through interactive learning. Some students hang back and watch while others jump right in, but all of them are learning.
Dogancay’s love of learning continued throughout her college career as she went on to pursue a master’s degree in Geoscience for Teachers from Mississippi State University and an MA from CSUN in Educational Leadership and Policies Studies. Her courses at NPHS include 12th grade chemistry and IB Theory of Knowledge. She also started a UC-approved Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class, and she taught other teachers how to use GIS in environmental science courses for mapping data. In fact, Dogancay has completed extra coursework that qualifies her to lead professional development workshops, including one in Australia this summer for the IB program in chemistry. When a teacher teaches her peers, she is indeed worthy of being recognized.
A broad base of knowledge and workshops in a variety of subjects allows her to be a flexible coordinator for the IB program at NPHS. As department head, she says her main goal is getting all the IB teachers to work together to create a cohesive, effective program. But the fun part seems to be all the incredible field trips she has taken. The pure creativity in putting together these explorations outside the classroom shows her skill as she reaches for ways to make science interesting:
- Santa Cruz Island with the Environmental Science GIS students to collect data
- The wastewater treatment plant to study chemical treatment of the municipal water supply
- The Simi Valley Landfill
- CLU philosophy lectures
- Pepperdine University for chemical literacy in the analytical chemistry lab
“In the community, chemistry has a bad rap. I want to make it applicable,” she notes. One way Dogancay does this is by teaching the students to name organic compounds and find them on product and food labels. During the bubble lab when the students were using Jelly BellyTM-scented solution, one student piped up, “There must be some esters in there.” (Esters are chemicals that have characteristic smells and are found in scented liquids.) It was a proud moment for Dogancay. She also runs a sports drink lab where students use a spectrophotometer to analyze the type and concentration of sugar, salt and dye in the ingredients. She has the students answer the question, “Should I be concerned about my findings? Why or why not?” Oftentimes she finds herself learning along with the students as they question and figure things out.
When asked what she thought needed extra attention in the curriculum, she mentioned the need for more electrochemistry.
“The students work with magnets and iron filings in elementary school and learn to make circuits later, but there is room for so much depth of learning in high school,” she says. On the last day of school, her senior chemistry students did an electroplating lab, resulting in silver-coated test tubes. It was a fun final demonstration of how electrons are transferred to improve the appearance and functionality of appliances before they moved on to university lab work.
“It’s an honor to be recognized (as Teacher of the Year),” says Dogancay, but she sees herself as part of a community of teachers making education “high caliber.” This community also includes local businesses that add to her students’ learning experience immeasurably. She would like to thank SAGE Publishing—a generous financial donor since 1996.
“Without their grant money and access to their database of scientific journals, the IB program would not be possible,” she notes.
NPHS’s award-winning teacher is now in the running to be the California Teacher of the Year and Debbie Dogancay has proven that she is up for the task. Given the challenge, and the opportunity, she will rise up to meet it with aplomb.