Welcome to LHS: McCauley celebrates being a chemistry “nerd”

This story is part of Lancer Media’s fall series welcoming new staff.  We enjoyed learning about many teachers but apologize that we were unable to cover every new teacher.

Amber McCauley has been working at FCPS schools for 12 years. She begins her second year at LHS teaching Fundamentals of Chemistry and Physics of Earth and Space.

She has more than classroom experience.  In high school, McCauley interned at the Fort Detrick National Cancer Institute and at Cunningham State Park.  After those internships, she realized she wanted to be a teacher because it has much more communication and interaction.

“I live in Mount Airy, so it’s very close, and Linganore has a great reputation for school pride, community, and focusing on education; it’s got a great reputation throughout the country,” said McCauley. This year she is looking forward being able to learn all about her students and their personalities.

While McCauley is not teaching, she spends time with her family, husband Patrick, daughter Natalie, and her son Ryan. Ryan loves to play with Ninja Turtles while Natalie loves to play soccer.

When McCauley was in high school she reports that she belonged to the ‘nerd group.’

“I think I’m like him [Smalls from the movie Sandlot] because he’s a little nerdy but still wants to be a part of the team.” McCauley says she is busy in school and busy at home but she wouldn’t want it any other way.

If a student wanted to bribe her, she says KitKats would be the way to go.  Her perfect day would consist of sleeping in and going to work to teach a lesson that would help benefit the students.

Class of 2019 member Emily Byrns said, “I like Mrs. McCauley because she made learning fun.”

Mrs. McCauley is looking forward to teaching her students and learning as they do. One of her strengths, she said, is how she puts herself in the position of her students and thinks of how she can make the learning experience exciting and tangible.