Outstanding teaching assistants receive honors

Pictured, from left, are this year’s outstanding teaching assistant honorees Victoria Szlag, Grant Frost, Jeanette Tensfeldt, Megan Weisenberger

This year’s outstanding teaching assistant honorees are Grant Frost, Victoria Szlag, Jeanette Tensfeldt, and Megan Weisenberger.

Jeanette received the Robert C. Brasted Outstanding Undergraduate TA Award. Some of Jeanette’s analytical chemistry students wrote, “Jeanette was amazing! Her bubbly attitude made 8 a.m. lab not so bad.” "I really enjoyed lab mostly because the TAs were very helpful, especially Jeanette. I learned so much from her during lab and she was always so upbeat, definitely made my lab experience a great one." "Shout out to Jeanette for being the best TA ever!”

Grant, Victoria and Megan received the Robert L. Ferm Outstanding Graduate TA Award.

Some of Grant's CHEM 2311 students wrote,” Grant made organic chemistry enjoyable. I have yet to see a person who could be as happy and excited at 8 a.m. as he was. His philosophy was perfect and effective, saying that ‘if I am not excited, how could I expect you to be?’” “He was a fantastic teacher who knew the balance between helping and letting me seek for the solutions to the problem. He knew how to explain concepts in a way that were understandable and useful. I can honestly say Grant was the main reason I enjoyed organic lab. His energy was contagious and the morning lab was actually enjoyable and fun because of him.”

Megan’s students described her “as super helpful and always on her game, she always knew how to answer my questions." "I'm so thankful that I had Megan as a TA! I'm not sure how well this lab would have gone without her help." "Megan was the best TA I've had in my science classes . . . attentive, helpful, knowledgeable. . . . I hope she wants to teach chemistry someday."

Victoria’s general chemistry students wrote, “Victoria genuinely cares about helping students succeed. She's always encouraging and positive with her responses to questions and has consistently showed her dedication to
helping students by taking the time to explain everything regardless of the amount of time it takes. She's very approachable and is always prepared for class with a positive attitude." "She is great at guiding students without holding anyone's hand. I got plenty of effective hands-on experience thanks to her style of teaching." "Her kindness radiates through her teaching."