Staff Spotlight on Rachel

Q: Tell us a little about who you are…
A: I am 42, a mother of two, and also a grandmother of three beautiful grand babies. I love to work and play hard. I volunteer for the Triskele Foundation which raises money for people who need to get their GED. I also volunteer for an organization that helps people who have a drug and/or alcohol problem. I am very driven, self-motivated, and a hard worker. At SSS there is always something different going on which makes my life exciting and challenging.

Q: What do you do at Steve Spangler Science?
A: I work in the Production Department, where all the unique Steve Spangler products are put together. We take pride in every product that we assemble and strive to make sure it is as good as the very first one that was ever produced. It is a challenging and exciting department to manage.

Q: What do you like best about what you do?
A: I like that my day is always so busy it can go from having a fight with some Water Jelly Marbles to Steve blowing something up (of course in a safe way) to getting serious and getting down to business and really kicking out some product. One of the impressive things about working in the back is that when something is accomplished it is always a team effort. We are like family and we are always there for each other.

Q:  What is your favorite Steve Spangler Science moment?
A: Steve and the staff at SSS think it is very important to attend a professional conference and let us all experience what the teachers get to experience. It is inspiring to be involved and to watch the teachers’ faces while they get to play with all the product we produce. This exposure allowed me to take even more pride in how every product goes out the door. The highlight of this conference for me was the Potato Gun war. All the teachers attending the conference went outside with potatoes and potato guns and split into two teams. Then they went to war with each other. During this Potato Gun war, one of the gentlemen who I see quite a bit at SSS, Doug Hodous (one of Steve’s science teachers from high school), started picking up pieces of potato and  throwing them across to the other side where I was. Of course, I responded by throwing one back at him and it hit him right in the head; I couldn’t have gotten a better shot at him if I tried! One of the guys who works in the Production Department and I looked at each other and started running and hiding like a couple of kids, laughing at the same time. This is one of the awesome things about working at SSS — often you get to feel like a kid again.

Q: What is something you wish every SSS customer knew?
A: I wish everyone knew that the charisma Steve has on TV doesn’t stop there; he is always excited to play and explain all the science experiments. And you never know when he is going to blow something up.

Q: What do you like to do when not on the job?
A: I like to hike, I love the outdoors, going to the gym, playing with my grandchildren, and also hanging out with my friends.

Q: What is your favorite science experiment?
A: One of my favorite science experiments is the Ethanol Rocket Fuel, which explores the chemistry of ethanol. I work in the Production Department which is in the warehouse, so any time Steve needs to practice his experiments he does it in the warehouse. We were busy working and he didn’t give a whole lot of warning, and the next thing I knew a bottle went shooting down the table leaving a trail of flame on the table. Very cool!

Q: What other stories or things do you want people to know about you or the work you do at Spangler?
A: I think people should know how involved the whole crew at SSS is in what happens and even what we sell to our customers. We all take turns taking products home and bringing them back like “show and tell,” presenting them to each other.

Q: Anything else you’d like to share?
A: Steve likes to catch me on fire……