By Zach Jarvis

“Creative” and “passionate” are two words that I would use to describe Middle School science teacher Mike Mailey after recently visiting one of his 8th Grade classes and talking to him about his career.

Mailey teaches 6th and 8th Grade science to both boys and girls. He is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and lived there from elementary school through high school. Mailey attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for college, where he studied psychology.

His love for science came from the connection that he made with a science professor. He said, “I had a chemistry teacher that had an explosion in class every two weeks, and he transformed how I thought about the world.” Mailey asked this professor for guidance in finding his new home as a chemical engineering major, the same major the professor’s son was working toward. After some time, Mailey realized he was “too extroverted” compared to other chemical engineers, which led him to the opportunity to tutor students in college.

This generated a passion for teaching. Mailey said, “I wanted the opportunity to pay that forward to other students,” and he would continue being a tutor for the rest of college. He then found a teaching opportunity in Mississippi. There Mailey got married, and he and his wife then moved to Boston. Two years later, they came to Richmond. Mailey has worked at Collegiate for three years and has four children, two of which are at Collegiate, in JK and 4th Grade.

Photo credit: Mike Mailey.

During Mailey’s 8th Grade girls science class, I observed as he put on a miniature show, being interactive while still teaching. Mailey describes his teaching style as an “attempt to synthesize topics from multiple disciplines, incorporate opportunities for project-based learning and authentic application and allow students to take calculated risks and take ownership of their learning. We also span the gamut from philosophy and cosmology to bread-making and pumpkin breaking, hopefully allowing students with multiple learning types and interests to find something to appreciate in class.” This mix is the perfect way to describe what I saw and felt when in his class.

The lab that day was an acid-base indicator lab that used red cabbage juice as an acid-base indicator. Red cabbage has a molecule called anthocyanin, found in multiple fruits and vegetables, that changes color when exposed to different pHs and acid/base conditions. Students were testing different substances to see the effect of the substance on the color of the red cabbage juice and make a guess as to what the correct order of the pH would be. They then confirmed their guess with litmus paper and a pH probe.

Students used what they know about a solution called Bromthymol Blue, a pH indicator that exposes how acidic a solution is turning: yellow if it is acidic, blue if it’s basic, and green if it has very little acidity. By observing the colors of the solutions, the students were tasked with putting them in order, from most acidic to least acidic, by only using their knowledge of color indication. After they made their final guesses, they turned to pH sticks to check if they were correct.

It is evident Mailey is very passionate and loves what he does. Mailey said, “I continue to teach because every year it appears a certain percentage of students get that resonance and get charged up with the tools to reveal the truth about the world.” A week earlier, he had completed a rocket propulsion lab with his 6th Grade class. He incorporated what he said were the “Last Airbender elements” (earth, air, water, fire) and used them to test and teach rocket propulsion. For earth, he used a clay and sugar mixture; for air, he used stomp rockets; and for fire, used match rockets.

Photo courtesy of Collegiate School.

But Mailey has other diverse interests than just a passion for teaching science, as he enjoys the benefit of physical exertion also. He coaches Cub football and is an all-around athlete, having played football for 16 years, including in college. He is also a Seal Team instructor, which involves bodyweight exercises with people early in the mornings outside. In his lifetime, he has run three marathons and has experienced a zero G environment on a parabolic airplane flight, commonly referred to as “the vomit comet.”