“Out of three hundred people I was this little girl raising her hand, asking the teacher what an Ostrich was,” Mrs. Roland said.

Mrs. Roland has been a teacher here for over five years, winning the Harford county teachers award the first year she was eligible.

“I was surprised by the nomination, you have to be teaching for five years to win, and this is my fifth year teaching,” Mrs. Roland said.

“She teaches things very different from how other teachers teach… it’s almost like she creates her own curriculum,” Devin Guyer, sophomore, said.

Mrs. Roland views herself as one of those teachers who likes to go outside the book, instead of teaching page by page.

“I try to make teaching engaging and fun,” Mrs. Roland said. “Like in my forensics class. It’s a type of applied science, has high standards and is demanding, but fun”

“We were learning entomology in forensics,” Joe Gilpin, junior, said, “there were rotting roasts and fetal pigs outside, and [when we saw them later] she made me laugh by saying the tiny maggots were ‘cute’”

“[Mrs. Roland] holds a belief that every student, no matter their background or personal beliefs, can excel in school, life, and science,” Mrs. Hoffman said. “She has a passion about students learning to love and respect science”

But Mrs. Roland didn’t win just for her teaching style, she won for her attitude as well.

“As a teacher, you have to not do this job for the money or glory. You do this job because you were driven to do it,” Mrs. Roland said. “You must be committed, work a ton of hours, care about the students, and most of all you have to want to do this.”

And while her curriculum is science, she really wants her kids to learn something more.

“I want my students to get the realization to make their own bloody happiness, to find out what they love and do it well,” Mrs. Roland said.