Tracey Lou Dodrill is a middle school science teacher in the Scottsdale, Arizona Unified School District currently teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade science; photography, and journalism at Scottsdale Online Learning. Tracey received her B.S. degree in journalism and communications with an emphasis in public relations from the University of Florida. She continued her graduate studies in communications at Southwestern. Tracey spent the first fifteen years of her career serving as a public information officer for a sheriff and two district attorneys in Florida. Relocating to Arizona, she returned to academia in 2005, completing Scottsdale Community College's Post Baccalaureate Teacher Education Program for her K-8 teaching certification program and graduating magna cum laude. Her focus has always been teaching middle level science, and she has continues taking graduate classes online. As a single mother, Tracey is raising two foster/adopted special-needs children. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, traveling, reading and exploring the world with her kids. Tracey's goal for middle level science is to inspire and ignite a love for learning science through experiential learning. Her passion for teaching has led her to plan and organize Family Science Saturdays for her students, bring STEM speakers into her class weekly to expose students to career options and opportunities, provide and participate with her students in service learning opportunities within the science community, and partner with STEM organizations throughout Arizona and the USA to bring unique opportunities to her students. She also plans an annual Evening Under the Stars Student Symposium and Star Party in which there are over 100 workshops being presented along with telescopes for planetary viewing.