Huntington High School students aren’t the only ones catching spring fever. Teachers have been known to feel the impact of the beautiful weather, too. Stacey Byrnes is one of those faculty members.
“It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I took my Advanced Placement Physics students outside,” Ms. Byrnes said last week. “We studied the principles of projectile motion, air resistance, impulse, momentum, inclined planes and rotational motion by having some fun!”
The teenagers played Wiffle ball, volleyball, cornhole (bean bag toos) and Frisbee. “We even shot off mini rockets. If there is one thing I have learned from my years of educating upper classmen, it’s that the best way to teach them is to make them forget that they are learning.”
Ms. Byrnes graduated from Rutgers University (Cook College and the College of Engineering) with a five year dual Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering. She worked as an engineer, receiving a professional engineering license in civil engineering before returning to school for a Master of Education degree at Dowling College, which she earned in 2002. She has been working at Huntington High School ever since.
“I had a lot of fun with everyone,” said senior Catie Ricciardelli about the outdoor class. “It was so nice out and I hope we get to do it again.”
The AP Physics class is available to juniors and seniors. “This course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory physics course offered to science majors during the first academic semester,” states Huntington’s course guide. “Students are expected to be self-motivated and capable of independent study and thus be able to meet rigorous academic demands. The course moves at a challenging pace and includes extensive in-depth study of one and two dimensional motion, energy and momentum. The course also includes a brief unit on electricity and optics for students wishing to take the Regents physics exam. Students develop skills in mathematical interpretations of these processes. Under College Board AP guidelines, laboratory investigations are an integral part of this course.”
