Mr. Qualk, an innovative physics teacher, started and established his teaching career here, at Bethel Park High School.  Mr. Qualk has relayed his knowledge to students for eight years now at Bethel Park High School as he teaches Honors Physics.

Mr. Qualk is not one of your everyday teachers you see in the hall; he acquired most of his real life experiences through working in the industry and field of engineering.  Previously, Mr. Qualk spent eight years in the engineering field as a chemical engineer.  Thus, Mr. Qualk’s exuberance is mostly demonstrated through the hands-on activities and labs he conveys to the students.

Mr Qualk’s class is not structured in the traditional manner.  He sets up various contraptions throughout the classroom and helps you visualize physics as a whole.

Usually, physics is calculations written on paper with pen, but not with Mr. Qualk; he uses systems, various pulleys, or contraptions in order to help visualize equations, accelerations, or even velocities. This method helps you to better understand the lesson and do better on the test, and ultimately prepare you for success in college or in the full-time career you plan to pursue (if that would involve or show application of physics).

Recently, the Tribune Review observed one of Mr. Qualk’s classes and is composing an article about teachers around Pittsburgh that are considered “innovative.”  Nevertheless, Mr. Qualk was discovered by the Trib as he is a 2013 Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist.

Mr. Qualk and his third period class were observed on Monday, December 3rd by the Trib along with Mrs. Flotta.  The class was filled with technology, cooperative learning among the students, interactive cellular device based polls, and a contraption that was video taped to demonstrate a visual representation of physics through the interactive smart projector.

Mr. Qualk’s class started off with his upbeat tempo as he introduced a warm-up question to the class.  He encouraged the class to explore and find the answer and then to whip out their cell phones to vote on the poll via text.

Mr. Qualk encourages technology based polls to start the class because it keeps the material fresh and the students engaged.  In addition, if a classmate doesn’t know the answer, then they won’t be embarrassed to submit an answer via text because it is anonymous; this is vital because it keeps all of the students involved and engaged instead of that one “smart kid.”

Mr. Qualk earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from Penn State University.  As an engineer, Mr. Qualk loved climbing and exploring towers and looking over lakes from sky-high factory plants.  However, after eight years of loving and respecting the engineering industry, he was called to become a teacher.

“Working as an engineer has definitely been a stepping stone for me,” Mr. Qualk said. “I believe it was a calling from God to become a Physics teacher.”

Mr. Qualk is set apart and is on a different spectrum from other teachers at Bethel Park High School.  He has a different perspective on teaching and teaches real life experiences from the heart.  Mr. Qualk believes there should be both a blend of theory and applications; if there are no hands-on activities, then you’ll never learn the material, but theory must also be prevalent.

Mr. Qualk emphasizes that if there is no application to physics, then you’ll never learn it.  This is evidently emphasized through his class structure as he always surprises someone with his new experiments and complex contraptions like lighting a balloon filled with explosive and volatile hydrogen gas during the first week of class to scare off his students.

Mr. Qualk never taught physics prior to his teaching career so he believes coming in to teaching he knew just as much as the students.  Thus, Mr. Qualk can easily relate with the students because he understands what they know and what their questions are.  Nonetheless, his relation with the students is fortified as he craves for the students to “screw up” and make mistakes as he believes students learn best from mistakes, which is true; students will remember details when they make erroneous errors on problems.

Mr. Qualk’s words of wisdom as the newly ascribed “Innovative Teacher” within Western Pennsylvania are, “students should learn to pay the price now so they can reap the benefits later.”