Philip Surks South Burlington, VT | 7-12, Science, 2019

Philip Surks Portrait Photo

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Philip "Phil" Surks has been an educator for over 20 years. He has been a science teacher and Department Chair at South Burlington High School for the past eight years. Prior to that, he was a full-time science teacher at Champlain Valley Union High School for eleven years, and he spent his first three years teaching at Needham High School. Before teaching, Phil had a career as a mechanical engineering consultant. In addition to teaching 11th-12th grade Advanced Placement Physics, Phil leads the science department and is an active member of the school's academic leadership team. In this capacity, Phil has been on the forefront of the development and implementation of numerous progressive school initiatives. He also supports the many efforts of the school's top-notch science teaching team and manages the complex workings of the science department. The best part of Phil’s day are when he is in his classroom with his students. He has an ardent enthusiasm for his content area and genuinely enjoys interacting with teenagers to help them to understand and learn to think critically about the world around them. Phil's lessons are hands-on, relevant, and engaging. His classroom is inviting, energetic, and fun—an observer actually witnessed pigs flying during one of Phil's recent lab activities. Granted, they were battery-operated pigs, but they were flying nonetheless. Phil earned his B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering as well as a M.A.T., all from Tufts University. He is certified in high school physics.

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