This year biology teacher Mrs. Toni Haynes joins the staff at Eleanor Roosevelt High School.

Mrs. Haynes is a veteran science teacher who has taught biology, physical science, and chemistry over the course of her forty-year career. Her journey to Roosevelt began in 1978 when she started teaching at a local high school in Virginia.

While she was working in Virginia, she met her husband, and from there his career in the army brought them to Texas. After living there for about three years, the couple moved to Prince George’s County, Maryland where they’ve been ever since.

Mrs. Haynes’ dedication to teaching followed her across the country and through a brief period of retirement. In June 2017 she retired from teaching, but was immediately drawn back because she missed its daily routine. She joined the staff at ERHS that fall.

She said her favorite parts about teaching are the hands-on lab experiences, the student interaction, and the “opportunity to help students find themselves and what they want to do.” Her students said they share her excitement for labs.

“You get to feel a part of the science field,” said freshman Claire Jean-Pierre. Another student, freshman Angel Sarfoaa, agrees that labs are the best part of the class.

However, Mrs. Haynes said she understands that not all students think that science is for them. They may question the real world applications a field such as biology may hold for them. To those students, Mrs. Haynes said she advises: “You never know where you’ll end up in life, you may need your science information later on so absorb, learn as much as you can, because you’ll never know where you’ll end up.”