Sylmar : Teacher Is a Finalist in National Contest

A Sylmar man has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious 1995 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching.

More than 600 science and mathematics teachers around the country qualified as candidates for the awards after winning National Science Foundation State Awards this month.

Paul Groves, a chemistry teacher at South Pasadena High School for the past 16 years, was nominated for the award by a number of his colleagues because of the way he makes chemistry interesting to students. He is one of 12 finalists from California schools.

“For Halloween, we decorate the classroom with black lights, dry ice and hanging eyeballs from the ceiling,” said Groves, who calls himself Dr. Grovenstein that day. “During the lecture, I demonstrate things like rates of reaction--to see how fast something can go before it explodes.”

The Halloween lecture is entertaining, always memorable and somewhat of a tradition at the high school.

“Students always come up to me in the beginning of the semester and ask if we are going to do the Halloween lecture this year,” Groves said. “Even though it is hard to plan, I always do it.”

Groves, 41, will compete with 641 other elementary and secondary mathematics and science teachers from across the nation and from the Department of Defense Dependents schools, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories for the Presidential awards.

Since 1983, the National Science Foundation has funded the program at the direction of the White House.

Teachers are eligible for the award if they have spent at least half of their time in the classroom for a minimum of five years.

Winners are selected on their classroom performance, experience and professional activities.

In addition to Groves’ classroom activities, he is working on an experimental computer program that will monitor a student’s decision-making processes when dealing with scientific data.

“It isn’t important that they get the right answer, but what kind of skills they show to get an answer,” Groves said.