Noyce Scholar Profile
Matt Spurlock
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Physics Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Physics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Fort Hays State University / Noyce Teacher Leader
Current academic or teaching status:
Junior
School and school district:
N/A
Background:
I grew up on a farm 10 miles north of where I went to high school. I have always been very active and like to stay in shape. I firmly believe that being around people is one of the greatest things ever! Whenever I’m stressed out, I like to exclude myself from all of my surroundings and write poetry.
Why do you want to teach:
Education is one of the most influential aspects in everyone’s life. I have the right tools and characteristics to make the classroom experience positive for students.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
One of the greatest teaching experiences I have ever had came my senior year in high school. I was tutoring an underclassman in math about three times a week. He was failing the class and really struggled understanding the concepts his teacher went over during class time. We would meet before school, review the information presented the the day before, do some examples and work on homework if we had time. Then he had a test and although I was a little disappointed in myself that he hadn’t done better, he was ecstatic to say he had gotten a C, which was a lot better than he had ever done before. That was the defining moment for me in my decision to become an educator.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has been an eye-opener to help me know what I have to offer as a teacher. It’s shown me that I really have no limits when it comes to how much of an impact I can have in the classroom. It has also been a huge relief for me by helping pay for college because it allow me to not have to rely on my parents for any college costs.
