Temple Christian School, Fort Worth
Teaches: Sophomore chemistry, junior anatomy, 7th grade science
Education: Bachelor’s in Science, Tarleton State University
Experience: One year
Bianca Zinno is like many other teachers; she was doing something else when teaching called.
Zinno was in health science, her latest job as a technologist in a pathology lab, when she decided to pursue alternative certification and go into teaching. Then a position opened at Temple Christian, where her two daughters attend school.
“I had no sense I would be able to (teach) at Temple Christian,” she says. “I interviewed and I applied for the position and fortunately was able to get in. God just worked it for me.”
The biggest challenge she finds: “Just trying to find a way to reach all of the children. They all have different learning styles.”
“She loved our school as a parent, and she wanted to come teach,” Neil Childs, Temple Christian's headmaster, said. “It's a super blessing. She's been fantastic.”
“She goes above and beyond for all of her students,” Jan Gilbertson, a parent, wrote in nominating Zinno. “She shows them love, patience and understanding. She teaches them not only science, but life lessons as well. She is a great role model.”
As our other top teachers point out, technology can disrupt students' focus and impede learning. Zinno tries to use technology to her advantage.
“If I can relate it to the real world, they can absorb it more,” she says.
What advice would she give parents? “Just listen to their students, be excited about what they're learning, instill in them that they're capable of learning new things.”
Off the clock, you'll often find Zinno and her husband and family on their farm in Johnson County, where they raise chickens and goats. “I like to garden and raise livestock and camp.”