|
P.H.E.O.C.
 Master Teacher, Al Stawicki has coached
nine-state
champion Science Olympiad teams and had his picture and story in Life
magazine in his PHEOC costume, winning Life Magazine's National Teacher
Award in 1990.
He was honored as Wisconsin Earth Science Teacher of the Year in 1980
and won the Presidential Award for Excellence from president, Ronald
Reagan. He has also been named Teacher of the Year by Discovery World
Science Museum in 1987.
In 1991, a Japanese television station did a one-hour special on
teaching in America featuring Al Stawicki as the subject.
Why are you called the Great “PHEOC”?
I have the greatest job in the whole world, I’m a teacher! Being a
teacher, the acronym “PHEOC” helps students better understand and use
the “Scientific Method”
Problem,
Hypothesis,
Experiment,
Observation, and
Conclusion.
What are some of the science principles or demonstrations
that you use in your show?
Problem solving, forming hypotheses, testing a hypothesis through
experimentation, learning how to use all five senses in order to make an
observation, and drawing conclusions. Gravity, air pressure,
temperature, following directions, surface tension, absorption, laws of
motion, surface area, and science safety.
 A 1993 article in Woman’s Day Magazine states:
"You have to be as wacky as the kids” says Al Stawicki, a Milwaukee
teacher who hangs a 20 foot banner proclaiming "Science is Fun" in his
classroom.
To prove it, he dresses up in a magician costume and plays the role of
The Great PHEOC. He turns science into magic with tricks like making
water disappear, but his best bit of wizardry is turning bored kids into
eager students who excel in national science contests.
Imagine: teachers who fire rockets in class, who keep exotic creatures
by their desk, who believe every child is capable of excellence and that
learning should be a lifelong pleasure.
What do great teachers have in common? Incredible energy, contagious
enthusiasm, lively imagination, and a playful sense of humor and
underlying optimism. You won't find a great teacher who doesn't love
their job.
Kids all over the country are learning reading, writing, science and
arithmetic in exciting new ways guided by gifted teachers.
It's not unusual for kids to come to school on Saturday to do 'neat
science stuff' with him. “Look, what I'm competing against - TV, movies,
MTV, he says. I've got to be an entertainer."
Excerpt from Article in Woman's Day Magazine "School never used to be
this much fun.” Report on Great Teachers. September 7, 1993.
|
