Tracy Childers is a science teacher at Foothills Community School, which is part of McDowell County Schools in Marion, North Carolina. Foothills is a STEM magnet school and a Project Based Learning (PBL) school with mixed-grade classrooms. After graduating from college, Tracy spent the next 30 years in supervision and management in the textile industry. He decided to pursue teaching to honor the memory of his two daughters, Casey and Courtney, after they passed away in an automobile accident in December 2002. In the 16 years he has been working as an educator, Tracy has been a middle school science and math teacher for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.