One of STEM’s Best: Mr. Hopson

May 1, 2019

Interview by Aashka Garg and Cherry Marni

Written by Cherry Marni

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The man, the myth, the legend. We all know him, we all love him. Mr. Hopson has been a teacher at STEM since it first opened in 2011, and he’s earned quite the reputation as one of the most approachable and caring teachers STEM has to offer. Here’s everything you should know about Mr. Hopson.

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Let’s start with the basics. Mr. Hopson, for those of you who don’t know, is a Freshman year Physics teacher as well as a Year 1 IB Physics teacher. He was born in Connecticut but grew up in our very own Pennsylvania. He attended the University of New Hampshire and Florida State University to receive his master’s degree. Mr. Hopson had a very normal high school experience at Downingtown High School. When asked about what his high school experience entailed, he responded, “It was very normal. I was a good student and a student-athlete. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.” But this very ordinary high school experience did not stop him from being a phenomenal high school teacher. Mr. Hopson loves to interact with young people and knows that he has the skills needed to simplify Physics for his freshmen so that they have the basic knowledge that he deems necessary for our learning environment. When Mr. Hopson was doing graduate work at Florida State University, he had to teach to pay the bills and his first teaching job was teaching Astronomy. He ended up loving teaching so he went to West Chester University to get a teaching certificate. When asked, “How did you find out about this job in STEM?,” he told us that he was teaching at West at the time and he had volunteered to teach at STEM when STEM first opened.

We asked Mr. Hopson, “What is the most important characteristic a teacher should have in your opinion?” and the answer was not shocking.

It’s more of an art than a science.

he responded, in reference to teaching as a career. The most important characteristic of a teacher for him is the ability to remember what it was like to be in high school.

Appreciate how students are, how their lives are.

he said while explaining that one can only truly connect with students when one remembers what one’s life was like in high school, what one’s emotions were like, and how one’s mind used to work.

There are many things that excite Mr. Hopson about his job, but the one thing that really makes him ecstatic is that he knows for a fact that he has the ability to, in his words, “dial Physics down”, in a way that students can understand. A common misconception about Physics, he believes, is the thought process that only conventionally “smart” people can understand Physics, but he has proven this myth to be false through the numerous students who go into freshmen year thinking Physics is going to be the most difficult class they have ever taken, but come out with flying colors. Mr. Hopson has proven that any student can understand Physics, a subject that is perceived as very difficult, with the right kind of teaching.

This idea brings us to our next question. When asked about what he loves most about STEM students, he responded that our students’ willingness to take up a challenge is what he enjoys most about STEM students.

No one is here to back down from a challenge.

Mr. Hopson has taught in many different places and environments, so when asked about the proudest moment in his teaching career, he had to think for a little while. He finally shared a sweet anecdote with us about his proudest moment. Back when he first started teaching in West Philadelphia, he had to teach a Humanities class. The kids he taught in this class were very different from the kids he now teaches at STEM, and it was quite a challenge for him to actually engage the kids in the class. They simply weren’t interested, but he finally came up with an idea. He decided to have the kids watch films in class and then have them discuss the time period as well as the essential issues brought to light in the films. The first film he showed was the 90s classic, What’s Love Got To Do With It: a film centered on the American-born star, Tina Turner. The students didn’t seem to be very interested but he didn’t give up on the idea. The next film he showed was a Beethoven-centered film. Although he thought the students wouldn’t appreciate the film, the students ended up loving it. It was this success in engaging his students in a class that they previously had no interest in, that was the proudest moment in his teaching career.

A small fun fact about Mr. Hopson is that he actually changed the order in which the sciences were taught at STEM. In most schools across the nation, high school students learn Biology and Chemistry in freshman year and learn Physics in sophomore year. Mr. Hopson knew that there was no real purpose behind this order, and the sciences were only taught in this order because school districts simply planned curriculum in alphabetical order. So, he suggested that instead of teaching the sciences in that order, Physics ought to be taught first, and Biology and Chemistry be taught after Physics. His reasoning behind doing so was because he felt that Physics was much easier to visualize than Chemistry. Chemistry deals with a lot of ideological concepts that are harder to visualize for freshmen who are already very new to the high school environment, while Physics can be visualized using things like carts, balls, and cars. His idea was a success, and as we now know, Physics is taught in freshman year, and Biology and Chemistry are taught in sophomore year at STEM. If you love this order, you can thank Mr. Hopson!

Lastly, we asked Mr. Hopson to give some advice to our current students and the incoming freshmen. To the incoming freshmen, he says: You have to learn to trust your teachers. Freshmen year at STEM is much different from middle school, and you have to learn to give your teachers the benefit of the doubt if you want to succeed in high school.

To the current 9th graders and 10th graders he says: Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that everything you do now is going to impact your future. Your 9th grade GPA is not going to determine your future. Find what you like and pursue it.

Finally, to the upperclassmen, he says: You are not determined by your transcript. You are not determined as a good or bad person if a college rejects you. You are not the person that some people get glimpses of. Try to find people who reinforce this principle.

So next time you see Mr. Hopson in the halls, whether you’ve had him as a teacher or not, say hi! And on a lighter note, remember to use your straight edge. It’s one of Mr. Hopson’s biggest pet peeves when students don’t use their straight edges!

We have a good school here, we should be proud. - Mr. Hopson