Facilitator Hopes to Shed Light on the Bay with New Signature Program

Michelle Weisgerber’s roots run deep in Chesapeake Bay country.

The new environmental literacy facilitator at comes from a long line of watermen, and her great-grandfather was the last lighthouse keeper at Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse in Baltimore at the mouth of the Patapsco River.

Thomas Jefferson Steinhise received a Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in 1933 after braving a storm in his small skiff to rescue the crew of a foundering tugboat, according to historical records. The story has been passed down through the family.

“We’ve always had a great deal of interest in the bay and its legacy,” said Weisgerber, from her shared office space tucked between classrooms on the school’s second floor.

When keepers’ descendants were invited to help restore the 156-year-old circular screwpile lighthouse, now a museum in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, she put a fresh coat of red paint at the top where the beacon once flashed its light.

Today, the former teacher and guidance counselor hopes to shed light on the bay’s ongoing health problems and illuminate new trends in environmental science for staff and students as she works to shape the school’s Environmental Literacy Signature Program.

The program will be interdisciplinary and school-wide so that all students will have an opportunity to participate at some level. Her plan is to begin rolling out the program next fall.

Weisgerber replaces Kathi Heron who laid the program’s foundation. Ultimately, all 12 county high schools will have their own signature program.

Prior to coming to Broadneck, Weisgerber was an AVID teacher and former guidance counselor at in Pasadena, where she graduated in 1989. She also taught at and middle schools in Glen Burnie.

A continual student herself, Weisgerber currently takes classes in instructional technology at Towson University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English/secondary education in 1994.

Weisgerber lives on the other side of the Magothy River in Pasadena with her husband, Paul, and three daughters.

“If there was a bridge, I’d be here in 10 minutes,” she said with a laugh.

Since there isn’t a bridge, she has a 25-minute commute on busy Ritchie Highway.

The challenge of the new job and the school’s reputation drew her to Broadneck, she said. “I wanted to do something completely different from anything I’d done in the past.”

She’s looking forward to opportunities to get her hands dirty in her new role. She tried to catch up with the school’s Environmental Club recently as they cleaned up the Cape St. Claire beach.

Those kinds of hands-on learning experiences remind her of an environmental camp she attended as a “tweenager,” where she spent the days camping, canoeing, learning and exploring Smith Island, where her grandfather was born.

“It made a lasting connection for me. I think of this all the time in this job. I think everyone should have the opportunity to live where we live. We’re so lucky,” she said.

Her new responsibilities allow her to spend part of each workday “fishing”—fishing online for news articles on environmental topics and casting a net for individuals and business people in the community who might lend a hand with the program.

She’s developing a steering committee of community volunteers and is looking for people with expertise in environmental areas to act as advisors or guest speakers.

“There are a lot of ways the community becomes a resource for us,” she said. “It’s really going to come from the school and the community how it unfolds.”

Those interested can contact her at the school, at 410-757-1300, or send an email to mweisgerber@aacps.org.