Meet Mrs. Thybulle, the teacher in room 831 who you might often see wearing scrubs or a pair of lab goggles. Freedom High School’s highly established chemistry teacher has been teaching for seventeen years now and has spent five of those years at Freedom. Out of those five years, Mrs. Thybulle has won the Teacher of the Year award twice. Along with teaching all AP Chemistry classes, Mrs. Thybulle has also dedicated her time to being the science department head.

“Being department head is very stressful but I love helping my coworkers,” said Mrs. Thybulle.

While studying at USF for her undergrad and Nova Southeastern University for her masters, Mrs. Thybulle took different science classes and developed an instant passion for chemistry.

“I took biology and immediately hated it after one semester,” said Mrs. Thybulle.

Outside of school, Mrs. Thybulle enjoys watching the University of Miami’s football games and maintains her fitness through Zumba. Zumba is a fun, energetic dance fitness program that Mrs. Thybulle says is one of her secret hobbies. She also aspires to start a Zumba club at Freedom so that students can enjoy the fun as well.

“A lot of people don’t know this but I’m a Zumba fanatic,” said Thybulle. “My goal is to finally get my Zumba instructor license one day.”

Because the AP Chem teacher has been at Freedom for five years, she has a collection of favorite memories. Some of her favorite memories at Freedom include the outdoor pep rallies from the past. The 2014-2015 school year also included a pep rally which was televised by Fox 13 News. This is another one of Mrs. Thybulle’s favorite memories at Freedom because she really felt as if the school came together to help Freedom achieve its goal of being on television.

Although she has been teaching for seventeen years, Mrs. Thybulle always looks forward to a new school year and is continually excited to see what the school year brings.

“I love what I do so I always enjoy starting a new school year,” said Thybulle. “It’s always fun to restart each year.”

Meeting new chemistry students every year is her favorite parts of teaching.

“I really enjoy getting to know my students,” said Thybulle. “My chemistry students are always such a diverse group and it’s fun getting to know everyone’s hobbies and interests.”

This is evident in the relationships Mrs. Thybulle has with all of her students. Many Freedom alumni recall Mrs. Thybulle as their favorite science teacher and aren’t reluctant to stop by her class to visit and say hello.

“I really miss being in Mrs. Thybulle’s AP Chemistry class,” said Freedom alumni Emily Brenner. “She always believed in me when I didn’t think I could do things and that has really stuck with me ever since I’ve had her. Now, I feel like I can do anything if I try hard enough. She instilled a really good work ethic and taught me how to learn from my mistakes. Not only did she help me academically, but she also taught me how to be a good person. She really prepared me for college and I could go on and on about how she has helped me in so many different ways.”

Mrs. Thybulle continues to make lasting, positive impacts on her students.

“I don’t think I could’ve survived a whole year of AP Chemistry without Mrs. Thybulle as my teacher,” said senior Elizabeth Cheung. “It was such an enjoyable class and it was definitely a memorable one as well.”