Flora Fortune, a biology teacher at Columbus High School, poses on the first day of class today with the living ecosystem she keeps on display in a classroom sink. Fortune has taught biology for 19 years. Photo by: Carmen K. Sisson/Dispatch Staff

There's always something happening below the surface in Flora Fortune's Columbus High School biology class.

After 19 years in education, a teacher develops her own style, plying facts and fun in equal measure. It's a challenge, especially in state-tested subjects like biology, because pressure to cram massive quantities of information into the school day can amp the intensity and quell the enthusiasm.

But Fortune has loved science since she was knee-high to a tadpole, growing up in Lowndes County and absorbing her father's passion for the outdoor world. By the fifth grade, she knew she wanted to be a teacher, and by the time she graduated from Motley High School in 1979, she was certain she would pursue either education or nursing as a career path.

Instead, she joined the United States Army, where she spent nearly five years and became airborne-qualified, making her possibly one of only a handful of biology teachers in the nation who can dissect a frog or parachute from a plane with equal aplomb.

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Fortune passes passion for biology on to her students