By Oreoluwa Tokan-Lawal

A rocket scientist turned AP Physics teacher? A costume connoisseur? A cat and dog fanatic? This is new Upper School physics teacher Kat Melton (‘93), who has already made an impression on her AP Physics 1 classes.

Melton was born in Blacksburg, Virginia, growing up with her parents, her younger brother, and cats and dogs. Melton moved to Richmond halfway through first grade and enrolled in Collegiate School for 2nd Grade. While in the Upper School, she was a part of chorus, the theater program, Model UN, and Pageant. She says that faculty such as Upper School math teacher Jeanette Welsh and English teacher Dr. Roger Hailes were the most impactful to her during her time at Collegiate, but it was physics teacher Mike Pagel that made her aspire to teach physics. Melton went to college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she earned two degrees: one in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and one in Brain and Cognitive Science. Melton said she “was already taking courses needed” for the Brain and Cognitive Science degree, so she stayed one more year to complete the course. She hopes that now that she is in Richmond, she will be able to work toward a Master’s and PhD.

Image courtesy of NASA.

After MIT, Melton started working for the United Space Alliance in Houston, Texas. The United Space Alliance, which ceased flight operations in 2014, was NASA’s “primary partner in human space operations for the day-to-day management” of the Space Shuttle crew. She was a flight controller and a part of the Space Station program in Mission Operations, where she helped with day-to-day life on the International Space Station (ISS). Melton worked for 15 years with international partners like Japan so that procedures related to the ISS could go smoothly. She had the opportunities to live overseas and experience different cultures, as well as earning awards in Houston and Russia’s control centers and individual awards from NASA and the Japanese Space Agency.

So how does a rocket scientist end up as a teacher? After 15 years at United Space Alliance, Melton started to feel like she wanted change. The scheduling was difficult to get around, as some weeks she would have night shifts, or graveyard shifts. So when she was considering another job, she thought about being an instructor for NASA and helping people learn about what happens at NASA. But the schedules were still not what she was looking for. She thought about teaching and really liked the idea of telling her students stories about NASA and potentially influencing her students to join NASA. So Melton got her teacher certification in physical science, math, and engineering, and she worked at Pasadena Memorial High School in Texas for nine years, teaching astronomy, AP Physics 1 and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism.

Five years ago, Melton, her husband, and their daughter Lily moved back to Virginia. She eventually found the opening for the AP Physics at Collegiate job on a AP Physics Facebook group she was a part of. She and her family are excited to be living closer to Disney World, their “go-to family vacation” destination. 

As a member of the Collegiate community for the second time, Melton likes the involvement in the community and the community service projects Collegiate takes part in, compared to when she was a Cougar. She hopes to rejoin and reinvest in this community that she has missed dearly.

Photos courtesy of Kat Melton.