2017 Medal Winners | francais

PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The 2017 CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Atlantic)

is awarded to

Kevin Farrell

"It is a great honour to be recognized by the Canadian Association of Physicists as one of the 2017 teaching award winners. I thank the CAP, the award sponsors, and those who nominated me for this prestigious award. I share this award with my colleagues at the elementary and junior high level who instill a love of science in my students long before I have the pleasure to teach them." winner citation

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2017 CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Atlantic) is awarded to Kevin Farrell, Cobequid Educational Centre, in recognition of for his mentoring skills that have led his students to continually succeed at the top levels in physics competitions and that have helped so many new science and physics teachers in his region do their jobs much better. announcement

Kevin Farrell has been a physics teacher at Cobequid Educational Centre (CEC) since 1993. Kevin has been an active member of the Association of Science Teachers in Nova Scotia for many years. He has provided professional development to hundreds of teachers during his career with sessions ranging from providing ideas for teaching physics concepts in grades 3-6 to elementary teachers to leading round table discussions on the IB Physics curriculum.
Kevin can make the most complicated concepts make sense and he does so through the use humour and innovative sample problems. According to his students, Kevin makes physics dynamic, creates labs that capture and keep their attention, and provides students with challenging problems all while maintaining a sense of lightness in class that leads to intense learning. Kevin�s IB Higher Level Physics students consistently finish well above the world average and they often fill many of the top spots in Nova Scotia on the CAP High School Exam.
Kevin is regarded as a mentor, friend and contributing member of CEC�s faculty. He is � say his colleagues � the most involved staff member at CEC. He attends almost every sporting event, play and concert and he has been a chaperone on many school trips to Europe. All of this activity outside the classroom allows him to build rapport with students in his class. Kevin�s obvious interest in students� extracurricular activities helps them feel connected to him, resulting in deep feelings of respect that flow both ways.
Kevin resides in Truro, Nova Scotia. He is married to Maureen and has two children, Kevin and Lauren, both of whom he is currently teaching. He was a 2014 recipient of an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Chignecto Central Regional School Board. nominator citation

ABOUT the Award
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, the Institute of Particle Physics, and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. medal description

ABOUT the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP)

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. cap description

joint description

- 30 -

For more information, please contact: Mrs. Francine Ford, Executive Director Canadian Association of Physicists Tel: 613-562-5614 E-mail: execdir@cap.ca www.cap.ca