Michael Lampert gave up pursuit of a doctorate in experimental atomic physics for high school science teaching. Inspired by a master teacher, he committed to the profession at a point when many beginning teachers abandon it. Lampert says, "I spent my first five years teaching students we refer to as 'the smoking crowd,' the under appreciated students. I can remember the countless fist fights, the confiscation of drugs, the violent and blatant racism, the counseling of rape victims, the drunkenness at eight in the morning. I learned a lot about life in a very short time and I realized then that I had chosen the right profession, for I could directly affect so many people's lives."
Now a veteran teacher of fifteen years, Lampert continues to invest heavily in his students by developing stimulating units on such topics as plasma physics and raising grant funding (more than $100,000 over the course of his career) to pay for equipment. He also spends his time to direct after-school projects and create opportunities for students to enter (and excel in) science competitions. His students have been state champions three times in the United States Academic Decathlon, have entered the national robotics Project FIRST, and have won the Toshiba ExploraVision contest. They also work in PIPE (Partners in Physics Education), bringing physics lessons to local elementary school students. Lampert believes in the value of these competitions: students, he says, "wake up to life through this process of presenting themselves." He will work with Aron Curzon, whom he prodded to apply for the Young Explorer Field Experience, on presenting his research results not just to his fellow students but also through such avenues as the Intel Talent Search. And, after a whirlwind tour of the Drachen Study Center, Lampert himself vows to introduce his students to kites as a tool for scientific research.
Not surprisingly, Lampert has won numbers of the kinds of awards for which he encourages his students to apply. He has been a Tandy technology scholar, a Northern Life Unsung Hero, and Oregon's 2000 Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. He participated in the program Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic (his research the use of helium balloons to probe the stratospheric ozone layer prompted the student assignment in which Curzon excelled). In 2005 he was one of forty-five Disney Teacher Honorees from around the country (one of only three for High School Science Education) who each won $10,000, $5000 for their schools, and the opportunity to participate in a professional development institute. Learn more about Lampert's Antarctic project and his remarks on science education to the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2001. |
