2022 Kansas Master Teacher Melanie Hammond

“I have watched students outside of (Hammond’s) classroom testing balloon cars, doing a bubble gum lab, and running crash tests with a car they designed for an egg passenger,” writes a colleague. “Her students don’t just learn about science; they become scientists.”

With a hybrid learning model during schools’ adaptation to meet the needs of students through online and classroom instruction during the COVID-19 global pandemic, Hammond explored new methods for home lessons, incorporating student-produced short videos to explain their learning and present findings from at-home lab activities.

Hammond has taught for 21 years at Salina South High School, including the subjects of earth space, health and human services, and biology. She currently teaches Physical Science and Chemistry.

Hammond earned her bachelor’s degree in secondary education/biological sciences from Kansas State University in 2001. Since then, she has earned two master’s degrees, one in 2007 in curriculum and instruction, and another in educational leadership in 2020, both from Kansas State University.

In her early years, Hammond learned the difference between poor and quality classroom management and found the key to creating a positive classroom culture came from building relationships. Hammond wanted to pass on this knowledge to teachers new to the profession by becoming a mentor teacher. While providing guidance to those new to the profession, Hammond also uses the mentoring experience as an opportunity to learn new teaching styles and methods from her mentees.

Among her colleagues, Hammond met with teachers with the goal of changing grading methods and piloted Standards Referenced Grading at her school. “I want kids to master the content,” Hammond states. “It shouldn’t matter whether they master it the first time or the fifth time. This not only allows student the chance to show that they have truly mastered the content, but gives them the confidence to know that if they face a challenging situation, with hard work and determination, they can be successful. This applies not only to the classroom, but life in general.”