Biology Instructor Honored with Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award

Nearly 20 years ago, Tracy Mowery realized that teaching was what she wanted to do. Starting her career as a teaching assistant in graduate school, she fell in love with teaching and has been changing lives in the classroom ever since.

“My motivation is to take a subject and/or subjects that some students have difficulty with and break it down for them to make understanding the information easier,” she says. For nearly 12 years, Tracy Mowery has been helping students at East Central College – Rolla learn and achieve their goals through her Biology courses.

One of the most satisfying parts of her job comes when a student realizes they understand.  “It is the “a-ha” moment when a student makes a connection that they’ve been struggling to make or when a student works really hard, coming to open labs to work with me one-on-one and they see the results of their efforts, and how that reflects upon their grade in the course.”

On November 17 she received the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. Sponsored by Emerson, the award program recognizes more than 100 educators annually in the St. Louis area who are examples of excellence in their field.

“It was really an honor to be nominated, much less to be the recipient. I truly value the working relationship I have with all of my colleagues, and knowing that my colleagues believe in both my work and me is uplifting, and motivates me to continue working hard for students and ECC!  I believe I am just one of many faculty members who work hard to serve our students, so to be nominated and receive this award is amazing.”