Science was always the long-term goal. Going into college, Jace Klein had his career mapped out in his mind. Earning his undergraduate biology degree at the University of Texas came first on the list. This would allow him to pursue working in a lab as a researcher, the goal he had been working towards throughout college.
At the end of his college career, however, with graduation quickly approaching, Klein questioned whether biology was the field in which he wanted to make a career, so he decided to take his passion for science in a new direction: teaching.
But after three years of furthering his knowledge of science through teaching at McCallum, Klein decided at the mid-semester break to pivot back to his original goal by accepting a research science position that put him in immediate employment at his new facility. While his new job enables him to fulfill his original dream, he maintains getting the opportunity wouldn’t have been possible without his experimenting in the world of education and finding his secondary love for teaching.
“I was planning on applying for graduate school but didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” Klein said. “I didn’t have a clear path, so I was told by advisers to wait, take a gap year, but I was still going to apply anyway, but then when I graduated in 2020, COVID hit.”
Klein took the year looking for new ways to use his science background, with the bigger picture still in the back of his mind.
“I wanted to try out teaching because I was always a tutor,” Klein said. “I was always an educator in college. I liked it and I wanted to give it a shot, so I spent the year getting my online teaching certification.”
Whenever we’re talking about science, I’m the ‘expert’ but I feel like whenever it comes to anything except for science, I feel like a kid just trying to navigate this world.” — former McCallum teacher Jace Klein
After getting the position at McCallum as a chemistry and anatomy and physiology teacher, Klein was able to conduct hands-on science experiences in the classroom, further his knowledge of the field, and give back to his students as well.
“I’ve been so obsessed with working with all the dance kids in anatomy,” Klein said. “I feel like I’ve learned as much from them as they have from me.”
In his time at McCallum, Klein took up the role of Academic UIL sponsor and cheer coach as well, allowing him to be active in both science, academics and physical education of students. In his only year as a UIL academic coach, McCallum decisively won the UIL District 24-5A academic championship, and he made a strong positive impression on the cheer squad during his two years a cheer team sponsor. For senior cheer captain Hannah Van Houten, getting to work with Klein throughout her high school career allowed her to have a constant stream of support in doing things about which she was passionate.
“The most important thing I learned from him is to always stay positive,” Van Houten said. “He always had this willingness to work with the cheerleaders and do what was best for the team.”
While Klein’s background in science geared him towards that discipline, his desire to help students didn’t stop there.
“The whole team grew to really love him,” Van Houten said. “My favorite part about [Klein] is his genuine kindness, friendly personality and having a coach who was also a friend.”
The teaching job provided opportunities and learning experiences that Klein didn’t expect to gain.
“I think at least in the sense of navigating society, we’re all a part of the same generation, so I feel like whenever I sit down and have conversations with students about the world outside of McCallum, I do learn a lot from them, and I hope they learn a lot from me,” Klein said. “Whenever we’re talking about science, I’m the ‘expert’ but I feel like whenever it comes to anything except for science, I feel like a kid just trying to navigate this world.”
Eventually, Klein gave up chemistry at McCallum and took up AP Biology instead. In this new role, he worked side by side with his co-AP biology teacher Sydney Schriever. Both shared a love of science, which provoked their fast friendship.
“We ended up collaborating on just about everything we were doing at McCallum,” Schreiver said. “We had to be in step with each other or else lots could fall apart quickly.”
The pair worked together to create a better and more cohesive AP biology class and incorporate elements they felt were essential into the course.
“It was very fun to be on a team with another teacher where we both enjoyed what we were doing so much,” Schriever said. “I will miss how willing he was to think outside the box, we started the year with somewhat opposite ways of how we wanted to approach teaching AP Biology, but I think the middle ground we found has worked well for our students, and he always brought a different perspective to the table that helped me to see things in new lights.”
While the two only closely started working together this school year, they have been able to provide insight for one another and learn from the other’s experiences.
“Something I have learned from Klein is that you can be very detail-oriented but still have fun when creating things,” Schriever said. “He was always ready to add a fun twist to an assignment or to come up with a rubric that gave funny yet still informative feedback.”
Getting to collaborate with people who shared the same interests pushed Klein to revisit the idea of being a research scientist.
“Honestly AP Biology was the dream,” Klein said. “And in a way, getting back into it and thinking about hard things and challenging stuff, I realized I really miss this.”
Klein also came to the realization that the path teaching was leading him down was one that he didn’t want to pursue long-term.
“It really seemed like there was a clear advancement structure,” Klein said. “You become a teacher, and then you become an AP, and then you become a principal, and I love our APs, and I love our principal here, but that is not my goal at all.”
With the dream of research coming back into mind, Klein decided to start applying for jobs at the start of the year.
“I knew that at the end of this year, I would want to try and go back and do more of a research science role so that I could eventually get my Ph.D. because that’s like what I’ve always wanted to do,” Klein said. “But as the year was progressing Austin ISD had teachers do more, just putting more and more on us, so I kind of had a moment of fury, blacked out, and then all of a sudden I had applied for a new job.”
Then the job offer came in, and in Klein’s eyes, it was the dream position. While leaving midway through the year wasn’t ideal according to Klein, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
“I wanted to stay because I really like this year’s senior class, I had them whenever I started chemistry, and I really wanted to be here to the end for them,” Klein said. “But then this one offered me a job, and it kind of switched, and I was like I have to do this, you know, like I got offered a dream.”
The job would place Klein at the Dell Pediatric Research Institute or DPRI, allowing him to work with elements of different forms of sciences, in the research environment he had been looking for.
“I’m a certified personal trainer,” Klein said. “I love going to the gym. I love to exercise. I love anatomy. I love movement. I love genetics, and this lab is focused on the genetic factors that lead to obesity, so there’s a lot of exercise science and genetics involved. So it was kind of like a perfect marriage of the things that I’m into.”
Klein’s new job would allow him to take practices he’s learned from his time at McCallum about creating a growth-driven classroom and integrate them into his new setting.
I’m still going to be working with students. It’s just going to be less, more like six students and it’s more hands-on, since it’s going to be more of a mentoring role where I get to know deeply six people.
— Jace Klein
“I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from [my students] on just how to conduct myself as a leader in a classroom,” Klein said. “I know my teaching style has changed so much since that first year, and there’s just so much manager experience that you get from teaching.”
The job will take his knowledge of teaching and incorporate it in a new facet, something Klein hoped to carry with him into his new career.
“I’m listed as like a 50 percent lab manager, so they’re taking stock, and making sure that everyone’s supported so that they can do their projects. And the other 50 percent is a research associate, so I’ll just be helping out with projects from the lab,” Klein said. “I’m still going to be working with students. It’s just going to be less, more like six students, and it’s more hands-on, since it’s going to be more of a mentoring role where I get to know deeply six people.”
Accepting the job, however, didn’t come without contemplation.
“I don’t want to leave the kids,” Klein said. “I love all my students, and I know that continuity can be tough for them and the feeling of abandonment, especially as teachers leave and leave and leave, but after I talked about it with family and friends, they told me the kids will understand, and I hope that they learn from this, too.”
Klein’s classes will be taken up by Amy Bujacz, who had been the teacher to implement AP biology into McCallum in the first place.
“A lot of kids are super worried about what’s going to happen, but I keep on telling them they should not be worried at all,” Klein said. “Bujacz, she’s really sweet. I’ve met her before and love her, so the students are in for a treat.”
Klein acknowledged that the transition away from McCallum after nearly three years wouldn’t be an easy feat but necessary to continue his career. Klein’s legacy remains with McCallum from his various teaching positions, but the impact on his students as well.
“McCallum is where my frontal lobe has developed,” Klein said. “I know that the reason why I got this job is because of my teaching experience, and I hope that my students feel the confidence to do what they need to do in their own lives.”
