As the nuclear medicine tech and sonographer on shift at the hospital, Mrs. Betsy Meharg injected the radioactive tracer into the patient’s IV, used an imaging device to record the distribution within his body, and then reported the findings to the doctor.

What Mrs. Meharg enjoyed most about the career she held for nineteen years before becoming a science teacher was being able to help people by assisting their doctors in finding out why they didn’t feel well.

“I also got to see really cool things about our bodies and how they work,” Mrs. Meharg said.

Before Kimmons, Mrs. Meharg taught Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Biomedical Science at Clarksville High School for nine years.

To learn more about and use science every day, Mrs. Meharg decided to transition to education. The change also allowed her to spend more time with her family.

“The hospital is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so I was away from my family a lot more than I am now,” Mrs. Meharg said. “I had to be ‘on call’ even when I was not at the hospital working. Dr. Hinkle never calls me to come to work at 2:00 a.m.”

Carl Sagan inspired Mrs. Meharg to become an 8th grade science teacher.

“Carl Sagan said, ‘We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology,’” Mrs. Meharg said. “I want my students to enjoy science and to see how important it is to their everyday lives.”

The kindness of the staff and students here is what Mrs. Meharg really appreciates.

“There are so many interesting people at Kimmons, and everyone has been welcoming and helpful,” Mrs. Meharg said.

This world-traveling Science teacher keeps a folder stuffed with all the cards and notes students have given her over the years.

“I enjoy reading them and remembering the time when each of those students was in my class,” Mrs. Meharg said. “Some days teaching can be challenging, so it’s nice to have a reminder that the things we do make an impact. There are a lot of good memories in that folder.”

Traveling with her family is Mrs. Meharg’s favorite thing to do. In fact, she has visited 26 countries!

“I have five kids, so it’s always an adventure,” Mrs. Meharg said. “I like learning new things and visiting different places is a great way to do that.”

The reason she could travel so much is because her husband served in the military for 22 years, so they lived wherever he was stationed, including three continents.

“My favorite place to live was Parsberg, Germany, because we lived across the street from the train station, so we could hop on the train and be in a different country in a couple of hours,” Mrs. Meharg said. “I love to travel, so this was a great way to see a lot of new places.”