For McCaskey chemistry teacher Mr. M’Mugambi, America wasn’t always the dream. Growing up in Kenya, he never thought he would take his teaching career to America, but he is grateful that he did. 

As a recent college graduate teaching in a remote school, Mr. M’Mugambi  took a chance when he heard the Philadelphia School District was recruiting teachers from Kenya. He applied as a joke—he didn’t think he would even be considered, but he “would never let an opportunity pass [him] without trying it. If [he] sees there is a chance, [he] always tries.” Nevertheless, he took a shot and applied, and twenty years later he has a developed career in chemical education and a family he raised in the United States. He always appreciates his beginnings, and takes pride in being able to give back to his country, especially the school he attended as a boy.

Although Mr. M’Mugambi didn’t always see America in his future, he did always imagine being a teacher. After being inspired by a gentleman in his village who was always nicely dressed, he took it as motivation to become a teacher too. Growing up in a poor village with few clothes to wear, he wanted to be like this nicely dressed young man. He was inspired to take a leadership role and go after what he wanted—an education.

Being a teacher is a “very fulfilling career,”  but being able to see your past student’s thrive lets Mr. M’Mugambi know that he’s made a difference. He knows he has made an impact when his student’s remember him years later, reminiscing, “You feel a sense of accomplishment. Our career is a career where you want your student to be even better than us.”

Mr. M’Mugambi chose to devote himself to a subject that he truly enjoys teaching and learning about everyday. Chemistry allows students to understand the reasons for changes at the atomic level and the processes we encounter on a daily basis. To him, “Chemistry is everything.” It permits students to understand the impact of current issues that impact everyone, like global warming. This also allows students to understand the impact of human activity and what they can to do help save our planet.

If you ask Mr. M’Mugambi what he wants everyone to know about him, he only has one thing to say. “That I care.”