5th & 6th Grade Science Teacher
STEAM Program Administrator
“City Academy students have a passion to explore. I want to promote and guide this passion both indoors and out with an environment where students are free to investigate and invent.”
Erik Taylor’s teaching career includes roles as an outdoor skills specialist with the Boy Scouts of America and naturalist instructor, field biologist and curriculum writer at the Saint Louis Zoo. His formal classroom and laboratory science skills were developed as a teacher at Rosary High School (now Trinity Catholic High School) and St. Ann Parish School. He also works throughout the summer as an instructor for the Maryville University Science and Robotics Camp.
In 2009, Erik took part in the prestigious Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in addition to a workshop at the Center for Engineering Education Outreach at Tufts University. He has been recognized as an Educator of Distinction by the Independent Schools of St. Louis and has received awards from the Emerson’s Excellence in Teaching program, the Challenger Learning Center and the Science and Math Loeb Prize review panel.
Erik introduced robotic design to City Academy’s science classroom and after-school programming. He has proposed and coordinated a LEGO Robotics training for Independent School Science and Math instructors, held at City Academy. As STEAM Program Administrator, he facilitates the collaborative efforts between the faculty and staff in these fields of study and manages a new MakerSpace that supports STEAM Lab classes.
Erik has worked as a consultant for the National Science Teachers Association, the Monsanto Fund, and Studies Weekly as a STEAM writer. His most recent project is as a STEM curriculum writer for Sherwood Forest Camp. He is currently working on his doctorate at University of Missouri-St. Louis as a member of the STEM Education Enhancement cohort. He volunteers his time as a Scout Master at St. Sabina Catholic Church. Erik and his wife, Karen, have four children – including one current City Academy students and three graduates.
B.S., Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville