LS Science Teacher Manages Students And Constituents As Mayor
Lower School Science Coordinator Susan Bickel has spent the past 24 years fostering a love of science among Benjamin students. Whether teaching Kindergarten students about the weather using ice cubes and a heat source, or experimenting with matter and studying kinetic energy with fourth graders, Bickel spends her days bringing science to life for young learners.
She believes that hands-on experimentation is the best way to get budding scientists excited about the material. This belief is evident with her first grade students who have been learning about the parts of a seed by participating in seed dissection and growing their own bean plants. The students have been imagining themselves as plant superheroes, incorporating the various forms of plant defenses into their superpowers. The young scientists will also work on building prototypes of their superhero outfits.
Bickel, who serves on the Governing Board of the American Association of Chemistry Teachers, has been actively involved in writing elementary level engineering curriculum for TeachEngineering while preparing to present at the National Science Teacher’s Association meeting in November.
Last March, Bickel added one more skill to her resume: civil service. Bickel was elected to the North Palm Beach city council for a two-year term. She joined Benjamin parent Deborah Searcy as a councilmember. This April, she was elected as new Mayor of North Palm Beach. Bickel’s parents were among the original residents of North Palm Beach, arriving to the area in 1958. At the time, south Florida looked very different.
“I remember when I was little, there were strawberry fields on Northlake. And the old KMartused to be a dairy. In high school, I had a friend who moved to Jupiter and we thought they were moving to the moon,” Bickel told North Palm Beach Life.
Bickel told the publication that her aim is to keep North Palm neighborly, even as it evolves and undergoes updating.
“We do have things that need updating, but I don’t want to lose sight of what we are, which is a small-town feel. We know our neighbors, we walk around places - I want to keep that,” she said.
Main Address & Lower/Middle School
11000 Ellison Wilson RoadNorth Palm Beach, FL 33408
Ph: 561.626.3747
A premier PK3 - Grade 12 independent, coeducational day school with campuses in North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. Since 1960, The Benjamin School has provided a challenging college preparatory education to a diverse student body in a structured, nurturing community environment.