Megan O’Neill’s path didn’t always point to the classroom, but she eventually found her way to the career her mother occupied for more than two decades.

“My mother was an inspiration to me at a young age,” O’Neill says. “I saw firsthand the amount of time she spent grading papers and caring for the children that she taught.”

O’Neill, who is in her second year as a Marine and Environmental Science teacher at Spanish Fort High School, said her mother was a teacher at Hoover High School near Birmingham for 25 years.

Before teaching at Spanish Fort, O’Neill taught for one year at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham and ten years at Fairhope High School.

O’Neill earned a degree in environmental science at Auburn University and worked as an environmental consultant with engineering firms in Birmingham and Pensacola after graduation.

But when her mother retired from teaching after so many years, O’Neill says she was reminded of the importance and influence of those in the teaching profession.

“I witnessed my mom retiring from teaching for 25 years at Hoover High School and realized the impact that she had on so many lives,” O’Neill says. “The genes took over in me, and I entered night classes at the University of South Alabama to complete a master’s degree in education.”

After more than a decade of teaching, O’Neill says the highlight of her job has become the moment a student fully grasps a new lesson or skill she’s taught them.

“My favorite aspect of teaching is seeing that ‘light bulb moment’ in my students,” O’Neill says. “That moment when the connections happen and they get it.”

While she realizes most of her students won’t end up working in fields related to science, O’Neill says she hopes she can teach in a way that helps the students retain her lessons.

“I realize that most of them will not choose careers in science but that would be my goal, as science is a part of everyone’s daily lives,” O’Neill says. “I just hope they retain enough of the science background to help them make informed decisions — especially when we live in one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet and have so many natural wonders in our state.”

Teacher: Megan O’Neill

Subject: Marine and environmental science

School: Spanish Fort High School

Unusual fact about yourself: In 2010, she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. “I never imagined I would ever get to go to Washington D.C. and shake the president’s hand.”