Congo Kinshasa RPCV George Wolfe Named Coordinator of Science Academy
Wolfe Named Coordinator of Science Academy
George WolfeGeorge Wolfe was named the first coordinator of the Loudoun County Public Schools Science Academy at Dominion High School during the Tuesday, January 11th, School Board meeting.
The Science Academy is set to open in August of this year. Wolfe will officially begin his duties July 1.
LCPS staff will present a status report on planning for the Science Academy at the January 25th School Board meeting.
Since 1984, Wolfe has been an employee of the Rochester, N.Y., school system, teaching at the Wilson Magnet School. He has taught biology, marine biology, Advanced Placement biology, International Baccalaureate biology and has developed an International Baccalaureate elective called “Research in the Biological Sciences.” Since 2002, he has been an advisory member/lab developer for the Cornell Institute of Physics Teachers. This is an organization designed to create the new technology necessary to support inquiry-based physics laboratories for high school students.
Wolfe is a National Board Certified teacher and was a 2004 inductee into the National Teaching Hall of Fame. He was named the Tufts University National Teacher of the Year in 1992 and the New York State Outstanding Biology Teacher in 1990.
Wolfe also has been host of the Emmy Award-winning “Homework Hotline” on PBS affiliate WXXI since 1992.
He is a graduate of the State University of New York-Brockport with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. Wolfe has done further course work at the State University of New York-Genesco, Ball State University, the University of Rochester and Cornell University.
Wolfe’s position is being funded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
HHMI has committed an investment of at least $1 million a year for a science education partnership with the Loudoun County Public Schools. As part of this commitment, HHMI has designated $100,000 to fund Wolfe’s position.
“Intelligence, imagination, ability to work with people, vision, experience,” are the attributes that make Wolfe the perfect fit for the coordinator’s job, said HHMI Vice President for Grants and School Programs Dr. Peter Bruns. “Look at what he’s done with a TV program, developing curriculum, the work he’s done at Cornell … He understands teaching, his students, the community and his subject. Put it all together, it’s George. … He’s able to understand students’ needs as people, not just students.”
Bruns added Wolfe has many contacts in the national scientific community that he can call upon when designing the curriculum for Loudoun’s Science Academy. “He brings to the table a lot of understanding of what can be done.”
For his part, Wolfe sees the connection with HHMI as being vital to the Science Academy’s success.
“The connection between HHMI and Loudoun County Public Schools is what is going to set us up as one of the top programs in the nation.”
Wolfe said teaching science was not the career path he anticipated following when he left high school.
“This is not the same guy who almost failed biology. When I graduated from high school, there were two things I swore I’d never do – one was teach and the other was to go into science.”
Wolfe said his interest in science was kindled by an opportunity to teach through the Peace Corps. He ended up teaching, in French, during 1974 and ’75 in Zaire. “I’ve loved science and loved teaching science ever since.”
Wilson Magnet School is an inner-city school where Wolfe has had success creating a high-achieving science program. He said there’s a secret to making an advanced science program work in any environment.
“The secret is that science is in everything and science is fun. If you approach it like that, the vocabulary and concepts are nothing. If you have a passion for science, whether it’s a teacher-driven passion or student-learn passion, you will like science.”
After becoming an institution in Rochester during the past three decades, Wolfe said he had to consider the opportunity to come to Loudoun very carefully. In the end, he said he decided to make the move based on one factor.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime for a teacher. It’s the opportunity to come to a forward-thinking school district with an opportunity to develop things that I’m interested in. (What I’m interested in) is a science program that is not only going to teach kids, but train teachers and is going to spread the news on how to teach science. We’re going to be the best science staff in the country.”
Too lofty a goal?
“That’s not pressure, that’s something to look forward to.”
