Years ago, as a student at Tustin High School, Paul Lewanski struggled with science and chemistry. "It wasn't easy for me. I had to work hard at it. But I learned how to make it fun for myself."
Today, he teaches chemistry and physics at his alma mater, making it fun and interesting for his own students. "I know it doesn't come easy for them either," he says.
His hard work has paid off. The California Department of Education has not only named him as one of five California Teachers of the Year, it has also chosen him to represent California in the national competition.
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California Teachers of the Year (from left) are Dawn Imamoto, Paul McLaughlin, Arthur Coleman Jr., Zenaida Rosario and Paul Lewanski.
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In an age of scripted instruction, Lewanski enjoys winging it. "I don't have a canned lesson plan that I keep every year," says the Tustin Educators Association member. "Sure, I have my notes and a general timeline, and I teach to the standards. But every student - and group of students - is different. They have different sets of baggage and different abilities, so I can't expect to teach the same way each year - or even teach the same way to each class. My lessons are tailor-made for the students I have. I can't think of any other way to do it effectively."
To help his students succeed, he taps into their creativity and assigns hands-on projects. When his chemistry class is studying the periodic table, for example, students are asked to create an ornament for the "ChemisTree," which is really an old aluminum Christmas tree. Each ornament has to represent something important about one of the periodic elements.
"I find that with this kind of assignment, students have more fun and do more research than if they had to give a two-minute presentation," says Lewanski. "There's also less stress."
One of his students, who had chosen copper as her element, painted the state flag of Arizona on her ornament. "I didn't know why, but the student pointed out that Arizona has the largest copper mine in the U.S. I didn't know that." Other students have created poems, haikus or songs about the elements.
But it's not all fun and games. "I insist that they do traditional things because, realistically, I have to get them prepared for college," he explains. "So I balance things out with having them write papers and take multiple-choice tests."
He credits a former teacher at Tustin High School with encouraging him to join the profession. While attending college, he returned to help the Tustin wrestling coach on occasion. His former English teacher saw him in action, told him he was great with kids, and planted the seed that sparked a successful teaching career.
"My first thought was 'Wow, I can have fun, do science, coach if I want to, and they'll even pay me,'" he recalls. "When I came back to teach at Tustin High School, that teacher had retired, but still worked occasionally as a substitute. On my first day, she opened up the door and stood there with a big old grin on her face. She said, 'I just had to see you in the classroom.'"
Lewanski has a bachelor's degree in the biological sciences and both a master's and doctoral degree in computer education from the United States International University (USIU) at San Diego, and a teaching credential from California State University, Fullerton. Besides teaching at Tustin High for the past four years, he has also worked as an adjunct professor at USIU and served as the science department chair in the ABC Unified School District.
In his 19-year career as an educator, he has accumulated numerous honors including three local Teacher of the Year awards.
The father of two, one a recent graduate of Tustin High and the other a current student, is a member of the school's Safety Committee, co-president of the Band Boosters, president of the Drill Team Boosters, co-president of the Tustin Instrumental Music and Pageantry Organization, and student club advisor for Club Otaku, which is interested in a form of Japanese animation. He has won the 2003 Rotary Club Good Idea Award for using living history presentations to teach about the Civil War in a cross-cultural way.
A member of the National Science Teachers Foundation, he has served as a mentor teacher for the UC Irvine/National Science Foundation Summer Science Institute and is listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers.
Concerned that so many new teachers exit the profession after just a few years, Lewanski decided to serve as a support and training provider for the district's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program (BTSA). "Working with beginning teachers is very gratifying," he says. "We experienced teachers sometimes forget how tough the first couple of years can be, no matter how much you love teaching."
He first heard confirmation that he had won the state Teacher of the Year Award on the public address system at school. "There was bedlam in the room - the kids were very supportive of the whole thing."
"It's like a roller coaster ride," he says of the experience. "Just when you don't think it can get any better, you go up another hill."
