FACULTY INTERVIEW

When and how did you end up teaching at Kellenberg? In 2012, I was going to Hofstra for my master’s degree, and the Tuesday before Triple “A,” Mr. Conrade called me with the news that one of the science teachers would be out on maternity leave for longer than expected and asked me to come in to cover for a few weeks. Those few weeks turned into a few months because I ended up covering for three different teachers’ maternity leaves in one year. It was kind of like a year-long interview, but I was hired full-time at the end of the year. I wanted to teach at Kellenberg more than anywhere else, so it all worked out.

What have you taught and moderated or coached during your time here? I have always taught physics, but in various leave/temporary replacement situations, I have taught every level of science except for sixth grade. I am an assistant moderator for Science Olympiad and head moderator for the Robotics Club. I also do PREP, serve as an assistant coach for JVB Baseball in the spring, and moderate a Sodality group.

Over the past few years, Kellenberg Memorial’s curriculum has grown quite a bit, particularly in the STEM subjects. What’s your take on these changes? I never thought when I started teaching here that we would have an engineering class or that me and Mr. James Campbell ’91 would be teaching it together. I’m definitely glad he’s there because he knows the computer stuff way better than I ever would. Even the amount of labs that we started to do two years ago, along with the addition of the Robotics Club, has all been pretty amazing. The elective classes have opened up really nice opportunities for the students. A lot of kids are taking an extra science class as an elective because they are really into it and want to pursue something in the science field in college.

The brand new Jim & Diane Rowen STEM Center that opened this past winter has been met with rave reviews. Do you think the new space will have a positive impact on the students’ ability to excel in the sciences? I think the new STEM Center will better prepare students for collegiate-level lab studies. The range of experiments we are able to do using the new labs is amazing. Especially with chemistry and biology, they will be able to do some pretty intense stuff compared to past years. I love how the labs are each set up

A Few Minutes with

MR. MICHAEL SORKIN ’08

differently. For physics, we are able to move the lab tables around as needed based on the parameters of the experiment.

What is your favorite thing about teaching at Kellenberg? My wife teaches in a public school so I can see first-hand the differences between our experiences. For example, when we wanted to create the Robotics Club, I wasn’t forced to jump over a bunch of bureaucratic hurdles to get everything up and running. I also really like that the administration trusts me to teach all these different science classes. The variety of things I am able to be involved with at Kellenberg is great too. PREP is one of my favorite clubs to be a part of, and I love being able to do baseball every spring. If I was just teaching science all the time, I would probably get sick of it. Being able to do all the other things outside of the classroom gives you a nice break from focusing just on the academic side of things.

What is so unique about an education that impacts both the heart and the mind? We aren’t building these machines to just focus on being smart and going to college. We teach our students to think about what they are doing, saying, and studying. Our kids don’t just read stuff and then spit it back out. For example, Faith Fridays, retreats, clubs, and opportunities for leadership positions are all ways that Kellenberg teaches students to not only think about themselves. I also appreciate that we teach the Enneagram so our students can learn why others do what they do and become overall better people.

What do you hope to instill in your students? I didn’t go into teaching just because of my love of science. I really wanted to get into teaching so I could interact with students and show some personality. I want them to appreciate science and to be able to look at the world and know what’s going on from a scientific point of view. I always want them to be comfortable in a classroom. Be comfortable asking questions and talking to teachers about what YOU are interested in. I also try to bring current events into my lessons in order to help students figure out what they are truly interested in.

What does the phrase, “Kellenberg family,” mean to you? I feel like everyone that has graduated from here is part of the Firebird Family. One of my favorite things about Heart & Mind magazine is looking at the Class Notes section and seeing what people are doing now. Some of my best friends are people from Kellenberg - people I graduated with or people I work with now. Kellenberg definitely has a family feel to it - it’s like no other place. There is a common thread that connects every graduate of Kellenberg Memorial, no matter what year you graduated.