| First
of all, this website is dedicated to my students--thanks for your hard
work this year and making teaching such an enjoyable and rewarding
profession! Here's to a great school year of learning about how
the world works around you and exploring together the inner workings of
the universe around us! There are many, many folks I'd like to give
thanks to for helping me grow in my teaching career, without which I'd
be completely lost--if I forgot someone I apologize in advance and I'll
be sure to add you on as soon as I remember!
From North Central College, I'd like to thank Carolyn Campbell and
Gene Drendel, our supervising professors who shaped us into new teachers
from being college students and showing us great patience and kindness.
Also special thanks to Dr. Stephen Renk, Computer Science Department,
for mentoring and sponsoring me when I had the first crazy idea of
putting these computers to good use for education and writing a Richter
Independent Fellowship grant--thanks for putting up with me and the
chaos that ensued!
From my days at Naperville Central I'd like to thank Allan Etzbach,
my high school physics teacher and mentor when I first started
teaching, for getting me interested in science and teaching in the first
place and for always taking time out of his busy day to give me a hand
as well as showing me how cool physics is! I was also fortunate to
have the great Jim Szeszol and Bill West as mentors who showed me the
"tricks of the trade" as well as modeled the power of a good story
and their infinite creativity in making learning relevant and fun.
Thanks also to Nick DiGiovanni for modeling what it means for the 'big
picture' of teaching and how it ties in with the rest of your life and
family--I'm lucky enough I still get to work with Nick every so often at
Packer Engineering. As a new teacher, I was fortunate to meet the
celebrated Paul Hewitt at Fermi Lab and attend his excellent workshop on
teaching conceptual physics, and I was also mentored by Tim Kulak at
West Aurora High School through the C3P Program sponsored by
the National Science Foundation. For a few weeks in the summer of
1996 and throughout the school year, a group of physics teachers
gathered at various high schools from throughout Chicagoland to learn
from each other and Tim tips and tricks to improve our science teaching.
Thanks to Tim for his mentorship and tireless passion for excellence in
science education. Over several summers, I have been fortunate to
work with the fine folks at Packer Engineering and their educational
branch, the Packer Foundation. Special thanks to Dr. Ken Packer
for his tireless efforts and contributions to promoting science and
mathematics education, Margaret Truax, Director of the Packer
Foundation, and Dr. John Fildes, one of the most intelligent and
passionate persons I have ever met. For the past few years, I am
thankful to work with John Nowicki, Director of Packer Aerospace and VP
of Business Affairs, to run the Packer Wings Aviation Camp at Clow Airport
in Bolingbrook, IL. More thanks are due to the following individuals
at Hinsdale Central for their professional support, contributions, and
educational leadership: Principal Michael McGrory, Science Department Chairperson Lisa
Fernandez; Director of Technology Tim Hohman; Technology Specialists
Tony Dotts, Julie Van Ness, and Eric Shade; and fellow physicists Dr. James Vetrone, Marv
Breig, Anna Breig, and John Williams. On a personal note, I'd like to
thank Pastor Peter Park, my mom and dad, my beautiful wife, my 3 terrific
kids, and the Creator of all life for believing in me and
supporting me in my teaching endeavors. |
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