Jeremy Secaur

Elyria, OH | 7-12, Science, 2019

What motivates you to contribute to excellence in STEM teaching?

My motivation is the firm belief that every single student deserves a rich and fulfilling academic life.

What has been the most transformative moment that affirmed your impact on STEM education?

My participation in a cohort of teacher leaders, learning how to facilitate Modeling Instruction workshops, was a pivotal experience for my growth as someone who impacts education outside of my own classroom. This experience was transformative in two ways: first, I found my community of outstanding teachers who have continually challenged me and pushed me to grow as a teacher and as a human; and second, learning how to lead Modeling Instruction workshops has put me in a position to help dozens (and counting) of other science teachers to transform their own classrooms.

Using your platform as a Presidential Awardee, how do you hope to advance our nation in STEM?

My interest remains rooted at the ground level--classroom interactions between teachers and students and how those interactions can influence the way students see themselves and their future possibilities. I will continue to use my platform to push for improved classroom dynamics that help all students in all classrooms to feel empowered to pursue their goals. And a wider pool of future scientists will strengthen the quality of science being done in our nation.

Biography

Jeremy Secaur has spent his entire career, since 1998, teaching physics at Elyria High School. Jeremy has taught Physical Science, Physics I, Honors Physics I, Advanced Placement Physics B, AP Physics C Mechanics, and AP Physics C Electricity & Magnetism at Elyria High. He currently teaches 11th and 12th grade Honors Physics I and both AP Physics C courses. His drive to improve his pedagogical practices has led to his adoption of active learning strategies in physics education for most of his career. Jeremy is a practitioner of modeling instruction, and in 2018 he was trained to lead multi-week workshops for the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA) to guide fellow teachers in the implementation of modeling instruction. This new outlet matches perfectly with Jeremy's love of helping other teachers grow professionally, and to continue his own growth. Jeremy has mentored 10 first-year science teachers in his school, and has learned to become a better educator through his work with new teachers and with training teachers in modeling instruction. Jeremy has served on the executive boards of both the Ohio section of American Association of Physics Teachers and STEMteachersCLE. He has led workshops for STEMteachersCLE and AMTA to help teachers develop pedagogical content knowledge in physics as well as general teaching strategies. Jeremy's 16 years spent as the technical director for Elyria High's drama club helped him learn ways to link arts education with science education, and to better understand the complexities of both students and school systems in ways that can't be seen only from the view as a teacher. Jeremy earned a B.S. in astronomy from Case Western Reserve University and a M.A.T. from Kent State University. He is licensed in high school physics.

High-resolution version of the official portrait photograph
Awardee with Dr. Quincy Brown, Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Dr. Sylvia Butterfield, Acting Assistant Director at the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) within the National Science Foundation (NSF)
High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph

The views expressed in awardee profiles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF or the PAEMST program.