A physics teacher at Assumption College Catholic High School in Windsor is being recognized as one of the best in Canada.
Adam Mills was has received the Canadian Association of Physicists 2022 Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Ontario).
The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) says the award is in recognition of his dedication to the development of physics pedagogy and a classroom practice guided by physics education research.
The 40-year-old University of Windsor graduate has served as a math and physics teacher for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board since 2012 and currently teaches International Baccalaureate Physics at Assumption.
Mills says he really enjoys teaching.
"The environment of this school, the students and the staff, I get to teacher students everyday who are ready to learn and want to know more. One time I had a student tell me that when he comes into class, it's like I tell him everyday there's a new colour he didn't know about. Being able to share my passion with my students is really good," he says.
Mills says physics is everywhere around us.
"Everything we touch is physics and I try to show that to the students. A lot of people think physics is hard, usually because the math is a little tricky but the physics, we're all familiar with that," he says. "I really try to emphasize that we're in physics class and math is the language we use to communicate physics, but physics is all around us, all the time."
Mills says being able to share his passion with his students is so good and he hopes the take away happiness, joy, energy and passion from his class.
The CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics, which was introduced in 2010, is intended to recognize excellence in teaching physics in Canadian high schools or CEGEPs and to encourage and promote physics at the high school/CEGEP level in Canada.
The award is sponsored by the CAP, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, TRIUMF, and the Institute of Particle Physics.
The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate, Institutional, and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP, through its charitable arm - the CAP Foundation, also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics.
Assumption College Catholic High School is located at 1100 Huron Church Rd.