Story by Rowan O’Brien-Williams

Photos by Meghan Lewis

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Science teacher Terry Conner deals with teaching three science courses—chemistry, physics and honors physics. Many may not know that up until recently, Conner had also dealt with a heart murmur—her heart had a leaking valve.

Conner had surgery Nov. 21 at University of Kansas Medical Center to repair the leaking valve. The day of the surgery, religion teacher Robin Good received an email that stated that the surgery had gone well and even taken less time than expected.

Conner had known of her condition since 2000. According to Conner, doctors monitored the heart every six months and when the condition worsend, they decided to perform surgery.

“[My condition] had been getting worse and it is better to repair [the heart] because if you don’t, basically your heart dies—well, [your heart] loses the ability to function properly so you die,” Conner said.

Conner has dealt with the idea of receiving heart surgery in her own way.

“When the doctors told me 4 years ago that I was going to need surgery I kind of freaked out,” Conner said. “My brain got used to knowing that I was going to need surgery. I’m frightened about 30 minutes out of the day and then I turn to spiritual solace and my husband helps too.”

Conner hopes to return by the beginning of second semester. In the mean time, science teacher Paul Anwander is taking over and teaching all three of her courses. Conner said she picked Anwander to take her spot because he understood the material to the extent necessary to teach honors physics.

“[Barbara McCormick] contacted several people and had them come in and observe in the classroom for one day, and then I talked to each one of them for five minutes and gauged who seemed most comfortable with the content,” Conner said.

Anwander recently graduated from the University of Central Missouri where he received his master’s in education.

“I am a new teacher,” Anwander said. “I did computer technology and I’ve gone back [to school] to start being a teacher.”

Anwander believes his recent graduation helped him get this position at STA.

“What helped me to get the spot was that I’ve recently been in college level physics at a level that is comparable or more advanced than high school classes,” Anwander said.