JULIE TRISEL: HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER
Interview by Michelle Carter Smith
The new science teacher at Corbett High School was raised in Portland and has lived in Oregon her entire life. Julie Trisel is the only child of parents who raised her on the west side of Portland. Julie's now retired father worked for Standard Insurance and her mom worked for First Tech Credit Union. As a child, Julie enjoyed both dance and gymnastics and was self-taught with the guitar. Her fondest memories are spending time with her maternal grandparents in Ariel, Washington. During the summers and many holidays, she would spend time in the great outdoors in the little community that housed all of the Ariel Dam employees. Her grandfather worked at the Ariel Dam and both grandparents taught her all about nature, the great outdoors and many life lessons. Julie spent many hours with her grandmother as there were not any children her age in the community. This is where Julie became fascinated with the possibility of one day becoming a science teacher.
During her junior year in high school, Julie was given an amazing opportunity by her biology teacher, Mr. Robert Clarno. He connected Julie with a grad student at Portland State University that led to her earning first place her senior year in the microbiology category at the Oregon State Science and Engineering Expo! This was another turning point for Julie, further cementing her interest in science. Julie graduated from Sunset High School in 2000 and went to work for Meier and Frank in downtown Portland. She later moved to Nordstrom, working in the cosmetics department. Julie had always wanted to attend college and in 2006, decided to make it her reality. While still working, she started at Portland Community College. She later transferred to Portland State University and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.
Along the way, she also took numerous classes focused on education and worked in Ballhorn Science Lab, publishing three journal articles as a co-author. Once she completed her undergraduate degree, Julie went on to attend Concordia University, graduating with her Master's degree in Secondary Education. The entire time Julie was in graduate school, she continued to work full-time at Nordstrom as a manager! After graduation, Julie was hired at Gresham High School in 2014 as a science teacher. Corbett's own Kathy Childress was a mentor for several years and was later the one that let Julie know there was an opening at Corbett High School. Julie was hired at Corbett in August 2022.
Julie is really enjoying her first year in Corbett for several reasons. Because of her summers in rural Ariel, she has a great appreciation for Corbett being a small rural community. She also appreciates getting to know the students and staff on a more personal level due to the small size of the school. Her hope is to encourage and inspire the students to engage as they learn more about science. Julie is able to bring her son who is in kindergarten to Corbett with her and that is a real bonus! She and her husband live in SE Portland with their son and they enjoy creating and playing music in the evenings and on weekends.