What she's doing now: These days, Duderstadt is in her second year of teaching physics, primarily, at Newton North High School. She's pursuing her teacher's license while on the job—many school districts in need of specialty teachers allow such arrangements.

That makes for a busy schedule, but Amy Winston, head of the school's science department, says she's doing great for a new teacher. "Her PhD was in a field that really integrated all the sciences—that's something we're always trying to do at the high school level," she says. That and her Peace Corps teaching experience helped her land the position despite her lack of formal teaching credentials and her time out of the workforce.

So far, Duderstadt has not had any of her students enter the Intel Science Talent Search (the modern version of the Westinghouse competition). "Hopefully," she says, "in the future."

Comments