Originally, Chance Duncan wanted to be a musician. He joined the band in middle school and was a drummer in the percussion section, but it only took one semester in college to realize that learning the fine details of music theory and reading music was not for him.
“I still wanted to teach, and I wanted to share knowledge and passion with other people, but it wasn’t going to be music,” Duncan said.
Duncan grew up in Dardanelle and lived on 20 acres, so he spent a lot of time in the fields and the woods. He also loved to watched Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel when they aired nature documentaries with Steve Irwin and other wildlife enthusiasts.
“Seeing those guys go out and explore nature, I developed a particular fascination with reptiles, and that translated into my adult life,” Duncan said.
Duncan has been a biology teacher at Russellville High School for four years, and he was recently named the 2020 Outstanding Biology Teacher for Arkansas from the National Association of Biology Teachers.
“It is definitely an honor,” Duncan said. “I don’t consider myself to be the most amazing biology teacher. I have a deep fascination with living organisms, and I try to encourage my students to develop a better appreciation for nature and for life.
“But offhand, I can name many teachers who could very easily get the same kind of award. I am not special by any means.”
Mark Meredith, the science department head for Russellville High School, nominated Duncan for the award. Meredith has worked with Duncan either in the same building or as a distant colleague for the past 16 years.
“He has always been a source of consistent dedication and passion for the teaching profession,” Meredith said of Duncan. “He genuinely cares about biology education and scientific literacy, and any one of his past students would tell you he really does care that they leave at the end of every class with both a stronger content knowledge and a deeper appreciation for the importance of science in our society.”
Duncan said that for part of the nomination process, he had to submit his curriculum, a description of his philosophy of teaching and a video of him teaching a lesson. He submitted the application in January, and in May, he was notified that he had received the award.
Normally, Duncan would get to travel to the national convention, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the convention will be held virtually. For winning, he will receive a year’s free membership with the National Association of Biology Teachers, as well as discounts on certain equipment for his classroom.
Duncan graduated from Dardanelle High School in 2001 and earned his undergraduate degree in life and earth science education from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville in 2006.
His first job was for the Magazine School District; then he taught at Atkins High School for six years. It was while there that he earned a master’s degree in science education from Montana State University in 2014. He said that degree allows him to teach high school students certain courses for college credit.
“I am not one for promoting myself very much,” he said. “My role as a teacher is to help students discover their own passions and to share my passions and kind of encourage that in them.”
After working at Russellville as an instructional facilitator for the Russellville School District, Duncan said that when the opportunity opened up for him to return to the classroom, he jumped on it.
“Russellville is a phenomenal school district and is comparable to many universities around the state,” he said.
Al Harpenau is the principal at Russellville High School, and he said the district is very fortunate to have Duncan serving the students as a teacher.
“He is an example of excellence in our profession,” Harpenau said. “We are very proud of Chance for receiving this prestigious award.”
Harpenau said Duncan was chosen for the honor because of his passion for science and his ability to teach that to students.
“His work ethic and desire to grow professionally are absolutely exemplary,” Harpenau said. “Mr. Duncan creates an environment of high expectations, and he is very accessible and helpful to his students and colleagues.”
In order for his students to observe biology, Duncan has brought his love of reptiles to the classroom. He said he bred some geckos from the South Pacific, and he also has a pair of Louisiana pine snakes that he hopes will breed in the spring.
“If that happens, we would be the only public school that is breeding this particular endangered species,” he said. “It almost happened this past spring, but I don’t think the female was ready yet.”
Duncan also has an Eastern indigo snake in his classroom that was donated to him about 12 years ago and has grown up in his classroom. Duncan said the snake is not suitable for breeding but has single-handedly helped people let their guard down around snakes.
“He has helped so many people deal with their snake phobias,” Duncan said. “He is super docile. He wants people to hold him, touch him and interact with him.
“He has been a really good ambassador for his species.”
Duncan said that this year, about 27 percent of his class population will be off-site. The district is offering three options for students this fall: on-site learning, off-site learning and virtual learning, which will use curriculum sites such as Virtual Arkansas.
“I can’t say we have everything figured out, but we are going to see what does or doesn’t work,” Duncan said. “At this point, everybody is really relying on Google Classroom to be a place where all students can receive content.
“The biggest downside [of virtual learning] will be the laboratory experiences. They are going to be missing out.”
Duncan said this is a huge learning process for all teachers and is guaranteed to change within the first couple of days, as “we learn what does and doesn’t work.”
“We’ve got all kinds of challenges ahead of us that no one has ever had to face,” Duncan said. “For myself, I don’t want my virtual students to feel like they are an afterthought or secondary. … It is just going to be weird this year.”
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.