Nebo school teacher, Wesley Morgan at Springville High, was selected as the Local PhysTEC Teacher of the Year. This award recognizes Mr. Morgan as an exemplary teacher.
PhysTEC Member Institutions educate over half of new physics teachers that are well-prepared. They do this by investing in the improvement of teaching programs, producing teachers with strong content knowledge that impact K-12 schools.
“I was nominated for this award by BYU. I think BYU is successful at training so many teachers for two reasons. First, there are many young people like me who learn to teach in youth programs and on missions and decide they enjoy the process so much that they want to dedicate themselves to it as a career. BYU also has an excellent Physics teaching advisor, Duane Merrell, who helps Physics teachers all over the state make their classes more hands-on and engaging,” stated Mr. Morgan.
Mr. Morgan then said, “I have done my best to make all of my Physics classes hands-on, while still maintaining a rigorous program. We've seen a large growth in the number of students (especially underrepresented groups like girls) taking AP Physics, including AP Physics II, which is not taught in many high schools. I've worked with our chemistry teacher, Mirriam Draper, to encourage high achieving students to take AP Physics. I've also worked with Darwin Deming to get students excited about science outside of class, through an elementary school Science Club and a state competition Science.”
The PhysTEC Projector Director stated, “Contributions to physics education are significant and impactful on the students, colleagues, school district, and state. At this time the nation is in desperate need of qualified physics teachers. Wesley’s contributions are highly valued and respected, and we wish your faculty member many years of continued success as an educator.”
Congratulations Mr. Wesley Morgan. We are proud of you!