Photo taken by Noelle Miller
Danielle Ammon is a chemistry teacher for Sophomores as well as a IB biology teacher. Before working at South Salem High School, Ammon started her teaching career in 2014 at West Albany High School. Additionally, she taught at Sprague High School for two years before moving to Redmond and teaching at Ridgeview High School for four years. Finally, in February 2021, she left Ridgeview for South.
Ammon graduated from Western Oregon University with a BS in Integrated science Education. After that, she went to Grand Canyon University to get her Masters in Education.
“I loved learning about a plethora of sciences as well as taking Spanish and art classes,” Ammon said.
Why She Became A Teacher
The reason why Ammon wanted to be a teacher is because when she was growing up she had grown up around the environment.
“Both of my parents were teachers so growing up I was exposed to the lifestyle, however, when I went to college I wanted to become an environmental research scientist. After my freshman year, though, I realized I truly did want to teach science. My chemistry teacher in high school inspired me to love Chemistry and science in general,” Ammon said.
Her Inspiration
Awoman who inspires Ammon is her mother because she did a lot for her during her childhood.
“My mom is the woman who inspires me most because she did so much for me growing up and still does now. [She always did] things like driving me to Portland for soccer practices twice a week and on the weekends for games, and always supporting me and loving me,” Ammon said.
Ammon’s Favorite Thing About Being A Teacher
One of her favorite things about being a teacher are the connections she makes with students as well as helping them overcome any challenges they may come across.
“I also enjoy the time I get to spend with my family in the summer,” Ammon said.
Challenges Ammon Has Come Across Being A Women
Though there are good times about being a teacher she has also faced some barriers because of her being a woman.
“There have been a few times in my career where students or parents have not shown me the respect they might show a male teacher. To overcome this I just held my ground and stood for what I felt was right and in the end, I had the support of my supervisors which was what helped diffuse the situations,” Ammon said.
There are some barriers when it comes to female equality in the workforce, but Ammon feels that if being a teacher is one’s goal, they should always pursue it.
“Being a teacher is a wonderful profession if you enjoy helping others, there is so much joy to see students who struggle start to have success and the thought of helping even one student is an encouragement to keep going even when it gets hard and is tiring,” Ammon said.
Ammon’s Favorites
When Ammon is not teaching and has free time one of her favorite things to do is spend time with her family.
“In my free time I like to be with my family, my husband Erik and my sons Jackson and James. We love to go to the park, go for bike rides and walks or go to the Gilbert house,” Ammon said.
Some local spots Ammon likes to go to Riverfront park, The Library and the Gilbert House with her kids. She also likes to go downtown with her husband to go out for some food.
“I frequent the Gilbert House, Riverfront Park and the Library with my kids because they are awesome places to explore and play. my Husband and I like to go out for appetizers anywhere downtown really,” Ammon said.
Places Ammon Has Traveled To
Some things people may not know about Ammon is that she loves to travel. So far she has been to about 26 countries.
“The best trip I’ve ever been on would be all the traveling I did in Europe when I lived in Budapest, Hungary the year after I graduated from college. I got to travel to so many places and experience many different cultures. Here’s a list of some of the places I traveled to that year:
Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech republic, Poland, Netherlands, Russia and Turkey,” Ammon said.
She has also traveled to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Canada, Ireland, Iceland, England, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia.
