Erika Hite has joined Wilde Lake’s community after teaching for 12 years. “I wanted a change and more of a challenge,” said Ms. Hite.

Ms. Hite is teaching Earth and Space Science and Chemistry GT. Hite, who started in Howard County and then went to a private school to teach for five years, has taught every science subject except Physics.

She believes that it’s important to make students science literate.

“Students should be able to understand science in real world situations and evaluate data,” said Ms. Hite. “I enjoy getting kids excited about science.”

Her love of science came from it being her favorite subject in school. However, she did not always want to be a teacher.

“I originally wanted to be a scientist,” said Ms. Hite. “But in graduate school I had to be a teaching assistant, and I really liked it.”

She was inspired by her high school Latin teacher.

“He was blind and had a disability to overcome. He was a really great teacher,” said Ms. Hite. “He was one of those teachers that cared about you and knew things about you. He’d be like ‘hey, how’s the marching band?’ and the personal connection with him was awesome.”

Coming to Wilde Lake has taken some adjustment for Ms. Hite. “I’ve been having to get used to having more students. Last year I had only about 12 students in a class,” said Ms. Hite. “I’ve been having to get used to the numbers and the paperwork.”

Ms. Hite has enjoyed many aspects of this school so far. “I like all of my students and the diversity here is a positive. The teachers are fabulous and the science department is great.”

Ms. Hite is organized and driven. “I’m always challenging myself to come up with new ways to do things, and I like to get creative with my teaching,” said Ms. Hite. “[The students] might not see that, but I spend a lot of time behind-the-scenes,” said Ms. Hite.

Ms. Hite is excited about the future at Wilde Lake. “I want to make my students good consumers of science,” said Ms. Hite.