About 27 years ago, a new teacher became a part of the Hurricane family. Teaching Earth Science and Biology in her first years, Mrs. Pepey-Tracy had no idea that she would inspire so many students and help them move on to do greater things. But there is a lot more to Mrs. Tracy than you know, she isn’t just a regular science teacher, she is much more than that. She has dreams, an amazing past, a beautiful family and always manages to have a smile on her face when you walk into her classroom!

“The best part is that I can take everything I ever learned about science from all of the disciplines I have studied and combined them into a brand new course!” She of course is talking about the very educational and fun class called Geology and Meteorology which she herself developed. When given such a worldly and educated teacher like Ms. Tracy, who wouldn’t give her the opportunity to create a whole new course? Besides teaching Regents Earth Science, and Regents Biology in the past, she has also taught Regents Chemistry and Regents Physics and also assisted with the Student Research program in its early years.

And to think that she didn’t even want to be a teacher,  she wanted to be a research scientist. But after a while even though she knew she was making a difference by helping people, she couldn’t stand the fact that she wasn’t able to see the change in the world with her own two eyes. Tracy explained, “It just wasn’t for me because I felt like anything I did I just shared with my notebook and didn’t feel like I was making a difference in people’s lives. I understood the final impact but I wasn’t privy to seeing the personal reaction.” She went back to college to see if she would be able to get her degree for teaching and after she accomplished that she applied for a teaching job and got it! It was then and there that she fell in love with the students, the chalkboard and the classrooms.

“Teaching gave me a sense of understanding and I love to share my worldly experiences of traveling with my students. It’s one of the most important things in my teaching career,” Ms.Tracy added. When she says “worldly experience,” she really means it! She has been to numerous countries and cities and traveled around the eastern part of the United States. To name a few,Ms. Tracy has been to London, Paris, Switzerland, Rome, Florence, all over Puerto Rico (Guanica Forest and El Yunque Rainforest), the Caribbean Islands (USVI St. John where she visited Taino Indian trails, and National Parks – Acadia, Key Largo), and so many more. She has traveled and camped extensively from Maine to the Florida Keys. Ms. Tracy doesn’t exactly relax when she goes on these vacations either. Everything she sees and does is another experience to share inside her classroom. Taking pictures of every sight she sees ensures that her students are getting the full experience of learning, “I’m not one for missing the boat!” Ms. Tracy said as she laughed.

If you know Ms. Tracy, you know that she always has a smile on her face and laughs every day! So I had to ask her what keeps her so jolly all the time and her answer couldn’t have been better. “I look at every day as a fresh new start, where will being miserable every day get you? (The answer is nowhere.) And no matter how hard or challenged the day feels, I always look at it as an opportunity to learn from.” So even if you think you got nothing out of her class (which is nearly impossible), or if you’ve never had the pleasure to have her as a teacher, I think we could all learn from Ms. Tracy.

Even though she has so much behind her, Ms. Tracy still has an answer to the question, “what do you want to do in your future?” Because she stated, “I am a lifelong learner,” and with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Science with a focus on Biology and Chemistry from Long Island University-Southampton, a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from Adelphi University, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Leadership and Technology from New York University, and current enrollment in college in pursuit of her Doctoral degree in Educational Administration and Leadership with a focus on Higher Education, her journey never comes to an end. As long as she is in the building, there will always be someone there at her door to greet you with a wonderfully spirited “Good Morning!”

“I wish all my students a Happy Summer and Gooo Canes 2015!!!”

Words to live by:
“Never shut the window, and always leave the door open”- Ms. Pepey-Tracy