Meet the Science Teacher Let me tell you about myself . . . My name is Eileen Cotter. I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and a minor in child psychology. I have taught science at Highland Park Elementary for the past 18 years. I have two grown children -- Ryan, who is the Computer Specialist here at Highland and Andrea, who is a Registered Nurse/Lactation Consultant and the mother of my only grandchild, Molly who will be five in October. My hobbies are reading, creating things on the computer, photography, and of course, I LOVE SCIENCE! I also enjoy getting away from the city to our 40-acre hobby farm "up north" where we have two ponds, an oak woodland, and one whole field that is devoted entirely to nature's critters. The perfect surroundings for a science teacher! The milkweed that grows abundantly has fed the monarch caterpillars that I raise in varying quantities during the summer and in my classroom each year. Fall, 2003 holds the record -- I raised over 500 monarchs -- enough to provide butterflies for the opening day monarch release that celebrated Highland Park Elementary's authorization as the first International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme in the entire Midwest.