"As a way of expressing my gratitude for the education I received from this great nation, I was determined to become an effective and outstanding teacher for American students," says Ranjini Weerasooriya, a teacher of tenth and twelfth grade chemistry at J.R. Masterman Demonstration School in Philadelphia. In the six years since she has joined the faculty at Masterman School, Dr. Weerasooriya has created Hands-on Minds-on Science (the schools first science club), revised the science curriculum and introduced an AP chemistry class. Her efforts were so successful that for the first time, students at Masterman School were awarded science fair medals, and she was asked to revise the high school science curriculum for the entire Philadelphia School District. Dr. Weerasooriya, who has served widely on science education state and national councils, is the 1995 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year.
