About

Let me begin by saying that I am honored and privileged to return to the Science Department at Saraland High School for a third year!  Previous students will remember me as Ms. Maulucci, but I'll begin this year as Mrs. Bragdon.  Before coming to SHS, I taught at Baker High School in Mobile, and graduated from the College of Education at the University of South Alabama with my Master of Education in secondary science.  While at South, I was a recipient of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship.  I returned to USA for six weeks this summer to participate in the Research Experience for Teachers, or RET program, where I helped study the development of biologically-inspired computing applications for the detection of cancer.  In addition, I continued my collaboration with the Alabama Water Watch, or AWW.  I look forward to sharing my experiences in each of these programs with students this year!

Born and raised in rural northeast Connecticut, I grew up loving cities and the outdoors but hating the cold.  After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Molecular-Cell Biology, I ventured to Boston where I worked in hospital and university labs conducting research and mentoring students until having an opportunity to move south.  For several years, I called the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina home, teaching biology part-time at a community college and working in clinical laboratory diagnostics before serving as a middle school math and science teacher at a small private school.  When my family and I first moved to Alabama, I returned to working in the research setting at USA's College of Medicine before transitioning to full-time graduate studies. 

Outside the classroom, I love spending time with my family.  My husband and I are blessed with three daughters (4, 9, and 11) and a son (born in 2022).  We love beaches, biking, libraries, museums, and playgrounds!

 On Digital Citizenship

"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being.  With freedom comes responsibility." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Published in her 1960 narrative, "You Learn By Living," Eleanor Roosevelt's comment about the onus of freedom is especially relevant in classrooms today.   Connected classrooms offer students and teachers great freedom.  We have access to tools and information in an unprecedented volume and at an an unprecedented pace.  In effect, we are pioneering an entirely new dimension of the classroom - our learning is no longer bound by four walls, a reality that will be especially salient this academic year.  Though we can't physically be in these cyber-areas, our interactions there remain as real as ones face-to-face yet bear an unprecedented permenance.  Thus, of the many new responsibilities we encounter participating in the virtual world, one of the most critical is the curation of our own digital identities.  As a teacher, it is my goal to help students become good digital citizens capable of safely and effectively navigating the everchanging landscape of new technologies while developing and protecting their online profiles.  

To learn more about me, follow the link below and click through the slide show that opens in a new window:

All About Mrs. (Maulucci) Bragdon - A Prezi