This is Valerie, the woman I met over coffee at Fortuna this morning.
She is a high school physics teacher. "Physics is math doing something," she says.
She tells her students, "Star Trek is my religion, and you're going to hear a lot about it." She starts each year's physics class by telling the students to get out their cell phones.
Then she informs them the man who designed them was inspired by 1960s Star Trek communicators.
Her T shirt reads, "May the force be with you."
(Force being m x a, or mass times acceleration.)
But she doesn't care much for Star Wars because while it's entertaining, it's mostly about war, while Star Trek is about the search for mutual understanding.
This must be why I like the science teachers' conventions more than any other work-related conventioneering I do. They're such an inspired lot--talk about incorporating technology into your teaching!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Trekkie, and I probably would have thought she was odd when I was a teenager, but I would have listened to her, been intrigued, and learned something.
This is like a science teachers convention + creative writing/acting workshop! Part of STar Trek's appeal is how it invites participation. It almost cries out, "Make your own costume!"
ReplyDeleteOh, how I wish Valerie had been my physics teacher!!!
ReplyDeleteOh god, make me weep, don't I ever wish so too...
ReplyDeleteI never even took physics and she makes me want to now---from her! Another point for hope in the future!
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