Every good teacher is always seeking innovative new ways to bring his or her subject to life for students.
But Gloucester High School's Kurt Lichtenwald deserves extra credit for not only making math and science come alive for his students, but for elementary pupils at East Gloucester School as well.
Lichtenwald and 34 of the Gloucester High students in his Honors Physics and Physic of Robotics classes spent Friday showcasing their work for the first time for elementary pupils. And while the younger kids no doubt enjoyed seeing the visiting robots scoot across the floor and, in some cases, float through the air, chances are the high school students' real message got across as well: that science and math have very real applications, and that those and other subjects can be — dare we even say it — fun.
As Gloucester High senior James Cavanaugh put it, he and his classmates wanted to show the younger kids that "you can do more with math and science than just math and science."
Lichtenwald also made it a point to emphasize that this type of applied science is for girls as well as boys — at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
The visit had to be a lift for the high school presenters, who got the chance to not only celebrate their work, but to share it with younger students and get positive feedback from their reactions.
Perhaps the best news is that Lichtenwald and his students will soon be taking their creations to O'Maley Middle School as well.
This is indeed a program worth showcasing — and celebrating — at all of our schools.
