WTOC Top Teacher: John Cassell

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Effingham County students are getting hands-on science experience in a program where they have to earn a spot, and the man helping spark that curiosity in the classroom is this week’s WTOC Top Teacher.

John Cassell teaches high school science at the Effingham County College and Career Academy.

“The students here have to apply to get in,” Cassell said. “There is no straight admission. When it comes to science, there is pretty much a lot of stuff that needs to be discovered. This right here, the next generation, they are ones helping to answer the questions we still have to this day.”

Cassell loves teaching but started out as a marine scientist.

“I’ve been a sea turtle biologist, I have been a nature guide, I’ve worked at hotels, I’ve done stuff getting people from this height to this height, getting them interested in science,” Cassell said.

Fostering a passion for curiosity is what Cassell is hoping to instill in his students.

“If they can learn some of the soft skills that are necessary for the future workforce, they don’t have to be in the science field but if they can develop the skills that are necessary to make them very good for any kind of business, any kind of passion that they want to do,” Cassell said. “That’s kind of my ultimate goal right here.”