A n Old Bridge High School physics teacher is a recipient of the 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Inspirational Teacher Award.
Joel Goodman was nominated by MIT student Natalie Leong, a 2003 high school graduate. Students nominate high school educators who inspired them through dedicated and motivated teaching.
Leong graduated from Columbia University with a degree in biomedical engineering before enrolling in a dual M.D./Ph.D. program through Harvard and MIT.
In nominating Goodman, Leong wrote: “You have made a big difference in my life. Thank you for teaching me physics in a way that made it my favorite subject. … Thank you for your generosity with your time, in all those afternoons after school when you stayed to help me solve more challenging problems and learn more physics. Thank you for encouraging me to exhibit the same generosity by tutoring a struggling classmate. Thank you for always encouraging me to be true to myself, and for always believing in my abilities.”
Goodman received an email from MIT notifying him that he had won one of 25 awards given each year nationally.
“When I learned of the award, there was a flood of emotion,” he said. “People don’t realize how hard we work. … I spent a lot of time working with her, and I am flattered she remembered.”
Some of the projects Goodman recalled working on with Leong and her classmates include an astronomy night program and a hot air balloon project.
As a recipient, Goodman said he is entitled to work with a team of outreach staff that will supply him with contacts to investigate topics such as encouraging women in the sciences and developing engineering projects.
“We’re not just about theory,” he said. “We connect the material to the real world. We check on it. It is a real opportunity to play scientist.”