APOPKA, Fla. — For Margaret Whitt, all paths led to a career in the classroom, but that path wasn’t a straight one. It had a lot of detours and stops along the way.

What You Need To Know

  • Margaret Whitt is a science teacher at Apopka Memorial Middle School

  • She spent 24 years working at SeaWorld but wanted to spend more time with her family

  • She wants her students to feel passionate about science

  • Click here to nominate an A+ Teacher

When Spectrum News 13 visited Whitt’s class, students were scrambling to dig into their science lessons at Apopka Memorial Middle School, but they were smiling and having fun while learning. 

Whitt, their teacher, didn’t originally choose a teaching career. 

“It’s funny because my dad wanted me to be a pharmacist, so I went directly from high school to a pre-pharmacy program, and I loved the biology but the chemistry got me," she said.

While studying at the State University of New York at Buffalo pre-pharmacy program, she fell back on her strong reading and writing skills and graduated with an English degree.

Whitt said a friend asked her one day, “If you could do anything regardless of location, education, or money, what would you do?”

Without hesitation, she said she would move to Orlando and work at SeaWorld, and that’s what Whitt did. She went to work in SeaWorld’s Education and Conservation Department. 

Whitt says she loved the people there. 

She got married and had a son and a daughter, but her schedule at SeaWorld was challenging.

“When they would have two weeks at Christmas and the summer off, I would be working," Whitt said. "Theme parks are open 365 days a year, which makes it hard when you have a family.”

Twenty-four years later, Whitt was again ready for a change.

“I needed to do something different, and I thought, ’Hey, why not be a teacher?’ ” she said. 

Whitt has no regrets about that decision, she said.

She has big hopes for her students. 

“I want them to feel my passion for science and take that onto themselves so that they can see that science is fun and interesting," Whitt said. "I want them to come back when they’re in medical school and say, ‘Mrs. Whitt, I remember when you taught us about mitosis and meiosis.’ ”

Whitt added, “I’m planting the little seeds that I hope will lead them to those science career,s those STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers. That’s where our world is going now. Teaching is so much more than just reaching a standard. It’s about touching the hearts of children and inspiring them to not be afraid to dream big.”