Jerrold Carpenter – Lincoln Academy Charter School

We would like to nominate Mr. Jerrold Carpenter for the KSL Teacher Feature. He is the 8th and 9th grade science teacher at Lincoln Academy in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He is an excellent teacher who makes an impact on every student he teaches.

Mr. Carpenter is funny and down to earth. He tells it the way it is. His daily science facts bring in life lessons and thinking skills to help students form their own opinions. For example, he teaches science facts about car crashes to help students be responsible drivers, and he teaches about drugs and the effects they have so students know not to do drugs. He goes beyond the science subjects he teaches. He helps student through life because he teaches life lessons from all of the different experiences he has had in life. Mr. Carpenter has volunteered at the prison and once a year he brings someone who has just gotten out of prison to talk to his students about drug use and staying clean. Mr. Carpenter helps the students think for themselves. He lets students debate issues and doesn’t add his own opinion to the debate until after the students have explored all sides of the subject. He is a great role model because he has overcome obstacles in his own life and students can see that he cares so much about them.

He spends extra time with classes doing labs and hands on experiments. Even dissections are interesting in Mr. Carpenter’s class because he makes them all about figuring out how bodies work. His zoology course dissects a different kind of animal every week. Even though his classes are really challenging, he gives lots of homework and he is famous for hard tests, the students strive to do their best because they love Mr. Carpenter so much. When our son took a college Chemistry course he found it easy because Mr. Carpenter had already taught him so much about Chemistry back in 9th grade. He teaches students not to be lazy by expecting a lot out of them. He sees their potential and helps them live up to it.

Mr. Carpenter stays after school every day for hours helping students be successful in his class. Kids love to stay after school just to hang out with him. They willingly sign up for his summer school classes just because he is such a great teacher. He teaches Chemistry and Satellite Systems during the summer with lots of fun projects, including launching rockets and mixing and burning different kinds of chemicals every day.

Mr. Carpenter is the kind of teacher who changes lives. Because of their experiences in Mr. Carpenter’s class, all three of my children have found their passion in science and are pursuing careers in Astronomy, Biology and Chemistry. One of my sons even chose to wear only Hawaiian shirts in High School because that is what Mr. Carpenter always wears. We are indebted to him for helping them find their passions in life and figure out what they want to do for careers. Whether or not Mr. Carpenter wins this award, he holds an honored place in our family because of the tremendous influence he has had in our lives.

–Janet Hovorka