Sit in on a class of Mr. Anderson’s AP Physics, and you will be baffled. It breaks all the rules of a typical class.The class size consists of eight students, in a time where it is rare to find a class with less than 35. Instead of getting a grade, you choose yours. There really isn’t even a day to day agenda, the class debates mac vs. PC, and talks of non euclidean geometry while doing various research of their interest. As you could imagine, the students in the class are no stiffs. Just take a look at what schools they want to attend. MIT, Stanford, and Northwestern are just a few, and every single one is an aspiring engineer.
With this in mind, Physics teacher Paul Anderson came up with an idea–put these potential engineers in touch with real life ones. So he rang local engineering giant Emerson, and got his students in contact with a handful of their engineers.
“I have so many students who come into my class wanting to be engineers, but none actually know what an engineer actually does,” said Anderson.
So every week Anderson has his students email an engineer from Emerson. They ask any questions their mind can conjure up. In a few weeks, students will visit Emerson’s headquarters in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
“I hope by doing this, it will give my students a better idea of what an engineer does,” said Anderson.
Let’s hope one of the student’s in this program produces the next great invention of the future, and BHS is written as the Alma mater next to their name.
