Helen’s Story
Helen Snodgrass has always loved teaching. She tutored throughout middle school and high school to share her love of learning with others. As an undergraduate at Stanford University, Helen briefly thought about becoming a researcher but ultimately chose to teach high school students instead. In her undergraduate thesis, Helen examined the attitudes of high-achieving college women towards teaching as a career. “Despite the fact that many are interested in teaching, there is a litany of reasons why they do not do it, or at least do not do it for long. While KSTF cannot fix everything, they are working to make teaching a more attractive profession.” A paper based on Helen’s senior thesis was published in the New Educator journal.
As a member of Stanford Health Corps, Helen taught health education to elementary school children. She also taught human biology to Stanford students as a course associate. One of her favorite lessons was on osmosis and diffusion, where students learned these concepts by examining de-shelled eggs soaked in different liquids. “They really wanted to know what had happened!” She has also worked as an English teacher in Chile. Fluent in Spanish and conversant in Polish, Helen is a graduate of National Cathedral High School in Washington, D.C.
