On the first day of school when students walk into his classroom, Jerome Flewelling says he wants them to have “physics moments.”
Whether watching movies or personally seeing a scientific force in action — when they experience it, he wants to know about it.
“I want students to have a time when they are outside the classroom and they start thinking through the physics that’s happening,” he said, “so if they hit their brakes or slide on (ice), it’s like, ‘Oh, the coefficient of friction is too low.'”
The goal is to develop students that are scientifically literate, strong thinkers and adept at problem solving, he said.
“There’s no cut-and-dry method of teaching them, it’s just you are constantly trying new things to keep them motivated and keep them interested,” he said. “If one thing stops working, then move on to something else.”
The Indiana Department of Education named Flewelling, 42, a Crown Point High School physics teacher, one of 10 finalists for Indiana Teacher of the Year. A winner will be announced in October.
He appears to be the first state finalist from any Lake or Porter school in at least 20 years, according to a Post-Tribune review of IDOE’s website.
A 2013 Harvard University study backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation concluded that an effective method for evaluating teacher effectiveness was reviewing test scores over time, conducting teacher evaluations with multiple reviewers and asking the opinions of students in their classrooms.
A senior at Crown Point High School in Flewelling’s class said that Flewelling is effective, because he is enthusiastic, open-minded, openly enjoys his job and often reaches out to show he cares about them.
“He’s a very fun and enthusiastic teacher. He likes his job,” the boy, 17, said. “He’s very upbeat with what he does.”
Flewelling said he is often most proud when he hears from former students and keeps several dozen of their pictures in a collage on his classroom wall.
Over the years, he has continued to emphasize the importance of critical thinking as cellphones and laptops entered classrooms.
“I have always taken the policy that the cellphone is just another computer in the classroom,” he said. “But when we are talking about how to solve (problems) or how to apply it, you are not going to find the answers to that (online).”
State teacher of the year candidates are selected by a committee of former recipients, IDOE staff, business leaders, community leaders and other education representatives.
If Flewelling gets the state honor, he automatically would become a candidate for the National Teacher of the Year award.
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“Our students succeed because of the exceptional instruction in the classroom,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick said in a statement. “This list of educators is comprised of the best of the best across Indiana, and I am grateful for the dedication and hard work they show each and every day.”
Flewelling lives in Crown Point with his wife and three daughters, ages 14, 12, and 9. He has been a physics teacher at Crown Point High School since 2001 — where he is also head of the science department and an assistant theater director.
Originally from Pennsylvania, he graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Ind., with a degree in physics.
The original plan was to become a physics researcher — something that didn’t quite fit his personality, Flewelling said.
“I started doing research my junior year and I thought, ‘This is just not for me,” he said. “I’m too much of a people person and wanted to find something else.”
After two student teaching stints, he worked after graduation as a teacher in Frankton-Lapel between 1997 and 2001.
Early in his career, a colleague emphasized the importance of maintaining classroom discipline, but also building a deeper rapport with students, he said.
“He really honed in on the fact that each student has their own life going on and they really want you to know what’s going on in their life,” Flewelling said.
“The more as a teacher I understand about what’s going on in a student’s life, the better I can teach them in my class,” he said.
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