DPSCD Teacher of the Year Finalist Kavita Sadwal Helps Students Find Confidence Through Science

Kavita Sadwal learned early how much a teacher’s presence can matter.

Her father served in the Air Force, and her family moved every two years. Each move meant a new school, new classrooms and the challenge of trying to build connections all over again. Sadwal admired her teachers, but as a student, she often found it difficult to ask questions when she did not understand a lesson. That experience stayed with her and helped shape the educator she would become.

Long before she became a science teacher at Detroit International Academy for Young Women (DIA), Sadwal knew she wanted to teach. She wanted to become the kind of teacher who noticed every student, especially the ones who may not always speak up.

“I will be a teacher who is always there for her students,” Sadwal said. “Who will see every single student in her classroom.”

Now, after 31 years with Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), Sadwal is being recognized as a DPSCD Teacher of the Year finalist. She teaches at Detroit International Academy for Young Women, where she works with students across multiple grade levels. Her classes include ninth- and 10^th-grade biology, 11^th-grade science and sixth-grade science. Over the course of her career, she has also taught earth science, forensic science, anatomy and physiology, biology and chemistry. 

Science has always been her passion. Sadwal studied biology and wanted to share that love of science with students. Still, her work has never been limited to one subject or one course title. No matter what class she teaches, she brings the same purpose to the room.

“I am not just teaching because it was given to me,” Sadwal said. “I am teaching because I want to teach, and I want my students to learn, make them love that subject, whatever we are learning in the classroom.”

That approach matters in science, a subject that can feel intimidating for many students. Sadwal understands that teaching science today requires more than lectures and notes. Students need to ask questions, test ideas, work with classmates and see how science connects to the world around them. She describes today’s science classroom as a place where students “do science.”

That is especially true for her sixth-grade students, who bring energy and curiosity into the classroom. Sadwal said they are eager to learn and often ready to jump into the activity before the directions are finished. Her job is to guide that energy while also teaching them how to listen, cooperate and take part in respectful academic discussions.

“They are so ready to learn,” Sadwal said. “They want to just do the stuff.”

In her classroom, students learn more than science content. They learn how to collaborate, how to speak with confidence and how to listen to one another. Through classroom discussions and hands-on learning, Sadwal helps students build academic skills while also developing the habits they need beyond school.

Being named a Teacher of the Year finalist is a meaningful honor for Sadwal because recognition was never the reason she did the work. Her focus has always been on her students.

“It is so humbling,” Sadwal said. “I’m really honored and humbled.”

Sadwal said her only expectations have been for her students to become the best versions of themselves. She wants them to be prepared for life inside and outside of school, feel equal to their peers wherever they go and grow into global citizens who do not see themselves as less than anyone else.

That mission is especially important at DIA, where Sadwal has taught for nearly 20 years. The all-girls school has shaped how she teaches and how she supports students. Many of her students come from different cultural, language and socioeconomic backgrounds. Some are English language learners. Some are adjusting to a new country, a new school system and a new language all at once.

Sadwal sees strengths in her students that they do not always see in themselves.

She knows that students may understand more than they are able to express. She also knows that language barriers can affect a student’s confidence, even when the ability is already there.

“They have that potential,” Sadwal said. “They know it. They just cannot express. That gap does not allow them to be at their best.”

That is why trust is central to her classroom. Before students can fully engage, Sadwal believes they must feel seen and supported. Once that trust is built, she said, students begin to advocate for themselves and one another.

At DIA, she has watched that trust become sisterhood.

Students lift one another up. They help classmates who are still learning English. They support peers who may be adjusting to a new culture. They learn to stand beside one another, not only as classmates but as young women growing into confidence together.

“They have a strong bond of sisterhood,” Sadwal said. “They would advocate for each other, lift each other up and be there for each other.”

After 31 years in DPSCD, Sadwal’s work continues to fulfill the promise she made to herself as a child. She became the teacher who pays attention. She became the teacher who reaches out. She became the teacher who wants every student to know they belong in the classroom, in science and in the future they are building.

Kavita Sadwal stands as a DPSCD Teacher of the Year finalist because she teaches both skill and heart. She helps students understand science, but she also helps them understand themselves.

In her classroom, students are not expected to shrink because of language, background or fear. They are encouraged to ask, explore, speak, grow and see their own potential clearly.