Don't mind the hydrogen-filled balloon and flame beneath it: Olympus Junior High science teacher JoAnne Brown, above, simply is making water — and with luck, a splash with her seventh-grade students.

Brown, sporting a rainbow-colored lab coat, illustrates changes in matter with the balloon's explosion.

"My goal is to get (students) to love science," said Brown, the Granite Teacher of the Year. "I want to ignite that flame ... I want them to remember what they've done (here)."

The granddaughter of Westminster College professors came to Olympus because there were no elementary school job openings. What she thought would be temporary has lasted nine years.

"I ended up loving it," said Brown, endorsed to teach English and science. "I'm interested in too many things. There are not many other jobs you can go into and do anything."

Brown focuses on students, be it by launching rockets in the schoolyard, encouraging science fair entries or cultivating ideas to enliven lessons, Granite assistant superintendent Linda Mariotti said.

Brown is working to create an outdoor classroom. She once raised $5,000 for the Huntsman Cancer Institute with a 100-mile ride around Lake Tahoe, dedicated to students who had lost parents to cancer.

"She gets kids, No. 1," Mariotti said, praising Brown's interaction with students. "At that age, relationships are everything. She knows what's important."