By Ember McElrath 

Bartlesville Teacher of the Month, Cheryl Fentress currently teaches ninth and tenth grade physical science and biology for Bartlesville High School. Cheryl has been with the high school since 2003. Before that she taught at several different places including Central Middle School, University of Tulsa, and Pawhuska High School. Cheryl went to Mount Vernon High School in Missouri and then on to the University of Tulsa for her Bachelors and Masters degree.

“Women of my generation were encouraged to go into traditional fields of work such as teaching and nursing,” said Cheryl. “So that’s what I did and somewhere along the way I discovered that a teacher is what I am, and I’ve never regretted my choice.” 

Spending her entire career teaching some sort of science Cheryl has an obvious love for science. 

“I enjoy sharing science experiences with young people,” said Cheryl. “I love watching students working with a microscope for the first time, collecting data about a growing Monarch larva, or studying seed germination.”  

In her free time, you will catch Cheryl reading a good book and traveling with her husband Tom of more than 36-years. They have two children together Craig, an Army Captain and Apache pilot and Beth, a graduate student studying Speech Language Pathology. 

The people that inspire Cheryl the most are the people who make the world a better place.

“The early childhood educators that inspire a love of reading in preschoolers, school board members and community leaders that work to pass bond issues for schools, members of the garden chub that beautify our communities, people that support the food banks and child nutrition services of our school,” said Cheryl. “We are surrounded by an endless community of people quietly going about the business of improving our quality of life.”