■ stentorian
vol, XXX, issue 4
the north Carolina school of science and mathematics
June 2010
stentorian@ncssm.edu
Faculty Depart With Class Of 2010
By Molly Kuo
June 5, 2010 marks the end
of many things: the end of a
week, the end of a school year,
the end of the twenty-ninth
class at NCSSM, and the end
of Gerald Boatman’s ten years
as Chancellor. But the students
and their chancellor are not the
only ones leaving this June:
instructors Ginger Wilson,
Jim Litle, Chuck Roser, Lisa
Zuraw, Dennis Yeh, and Loren
Winters are all leaving NCSSM
this year.
Roser and Zuraw, who
will be leaving the Chemistry
department this June, say that
they will miss the students’
talent and passion for learning.
Zuraw said one of her favorite
experiences was writing
Loren Winters has taught
Web Physics and High Speed
Photography at NCSSM. He will
be leaving this year along with
many other teachers.
recommendations. “I found it
exciting to share the successes
of the students as well as their
future potential with others.”
Roser has been teaching
here for 19 years, and over
his time here he has had the
chance to develop many
original teaching materials,
including videos of chemistry
demonstrations and animations
of various reactions. This
has allowed his impact to be
felt across the state. “I have
enjoyed the opportunities to
develop educational materials
that could be used by teachers
throughout the state,” Roser
said.
Here on campus, Roser’s
influence has spread beyond the
chemistry classroom. Always
present at school events,
Roser has also led various
miniterms, including the Art
and Chemistry miniterm and
the Glassblowing course.
“Roser will certainly leave
a legacy,” junior Ryan Lee
said.
Roser said that teaching
these miniterms has
rekindled his interest
in glassblowing and
woodwork, which he plans
to pursue in his retirement.
Zuraw and Roser’s de
parture has raised some
questions about the future
of the chemistry curricu
lum. Roser was the archi
tect of the Organic Chem
istry course, and Zuraw
and Roser are the only two
teachers who taught it this
year. Roser is also the only
teacher of AP Chemistry
with Advanced Topics. There
has been much speculation
r
among students
on whether cur
rent Chemistry
teachers would
take on the Or
ganic Chemistry
and AP Chem
istry with Ad
vanced Topics
classes or if new
teachers would
teach those
classes. In the
search process
for new chemis
try teachers, the
Chemistry fac
ulty specifically
looked for can
didates with the
ability to teach
organic chem-
istrv It wfls sri“ ’ • •
, ... Virginia Wilson, who now serves as the Dean of Humanities, has been on the
nounced at the r
North Carolina since the school s beginning in 1980. She, along with Jim Litle, was
Central Univer- ^’^Hrumental in founding Student Government. • Photo from first edition of The
... Odyssey
sity articulation
agreement signing that one Lydia Thurman said, “I first
of the newly hired chemistry got to know Mr. Litle from all
teachers is both a NCSSM and the help he gave to the Model
North Carolina
Chemistry teacher Chuck Roser will be leaving NCSSM after 19
years. He has produced many educational materials that are used
by educators across the state.
Central Univer
sity alumna.
Wilson, who
has been at
NCSSM since
its opening in
1980, will be
sorely missed.
“Dr. Wilson
taught me to
love history,”
said Lydia Allen,
who had Wilson
for American
Studies, AP
United States
History, and
AP European
History.
“I do not
think there is any
one experience
that is my
favorite,”Wilson
said. “What
is remarkable,
however, is that
for the last thirty
years I have been
eager to begin
each teaching
day. Not many
people have been fortunate
enough to have a job they
love so absolutely. I am daily
reminded of the southern
novelist Pat Conroy’s comment
that the most beautiful word
in the English language is
‘teacher.’” In addition to her
teaching duties, Wilson is also
the current Dean of Humanities;
the identity of the next Dean of
Humanities has not yet been
announced.
Litle, who has been here
since the year after the school
opened, will also be missed.
Jim Litle, who now teaches Economics, has
been at the school since the early ‘80s. While
here, he has served as the Student Government
advisor and the Model UN sponsor, in addition
to teaching a host of humanities classes. He
too will be leaving this year.
UN team. With his sarcastic
sense of humor and his 20
minute crash courses in macro,
Mr. Litle really improved the
Model UN team experienee.”
Incidentally, Wilson and Litle
were instrumental in founding
StudentGovemmentatNCSSM
and were acknowledged for
their contribution to the school
with plaques at a Student
Government breakfast this past
Friday.
Yeh and Winters will also be
leaving at the end of this year.
Yeh has taught Precalculus
and Computer Science and led
Miniterms on Cryptography
and Computer Graphics.
Many students also jokingly
refer to Yeh as the faculty
sponsor of most of the clubs
on campus. “I’ll most miss
Midday Monday Masticatory
Missions with Morrison,
Menchini, miscellaneous Math
dept members, and sometimes
Miller,” Yeh said of his weekly
lunches with colleagues. “Of
course, I can’t pinpoint my
single most favorite experience,
but sitting in on the lacrosse PA
class and playing goalie in my
work attire was tremendously
fun! Also, during the trip
to 2009 Science Olympiad
Nationals, Dr. Kolena
foimd a Korean barbecue
restaurant nearby in Augusta,
Georgia. The online review
read, ‘the location is absolutely
sketchy and the building is
completely rundown, but the
food is amazing’. We went,
and it turned out to be a vast
understatement on all counts!”
Senior Toyosi Oyelowo
had Winters as her advisor.
“Dr. Winters was my favorite
advisor; he always offered
me coffee jelly beans,” she
said. Matheson Davis, another
advisee, also said Winters
was a great advisor. “He
helped me make some really
important academic decisions,
and I really appreciate it. He
pushed me to take Physics with
Advanced Topics, and I’m glad
I took that class.”
In every comer of the
school, students, faculty, and
staff will feel the effects of
these teachers’ departure.
What the commimity will feel
most, however, is the effects of
their having been here in the
first place.