ROCHELLE — That Rochelle Township High School physics teacher Scott Campbell has been named Illinois Physics Teacher of the Year comes as no surprise to his students.
Campbell has been teaching Honors Chemistry, Advanced Placement Chemistry, Physics, and Advanced Placement Physics at RTHS since the fall of 2014.
Campbell, born in Appalachia near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was awarded an academic scholarship to Boston University, earning a degree in Aerospace Engineering. 
Campbell said he was a high school science and math nerd who would have enjoyed a career in education, but listened to the people in his life who said teaching was a dead-end career, “So, I buried the idea of teaching and followed the money.”
Campbell arrived in Illinois (his wife is a native) after college, working for Servicemaster and immediately began working toward an MBA from Benedictine University. Three years later, he entered the world of banking. He rose to senior vice president but realized he didn’t want to run a bank, so he left, joining Volkswagen Bank (a startup) for two years as he weighed his future.
With his Volkswagen office in Utah, Campbell enrolled at Western Governors University there to become certified to teach physics and general high school science. He also earned a Master’s degree in Chemistry Education.
Campbell became a student teacher in DeKalb before taking a position at Harlem High School teaching Chemistry, Physics and a science program for at-risk students. He had finally returned to the career field to which he had initially been drawn.
“This is what I’m supposed to be doing,” he said.
Campbell learned of the opening at RTHS and applied in 2014.

“I actually approached it pretty casually,” he said.
He was initially lured in by the thought that Rochelle would cut his commute from DeKalb, but Campbell said he came away from the interview very impressed by both then Superintendent Jamie Craven and principal Jason Harper, as well as the discipline and the facilities.
When Scott first interviewed for the job, it was clear that he was highly qualified for the physics and chemistry positions. His background was unique,” science department chair David Oldenburg said. “Scott came to Rochelle with a lot of enthusiasm, willingness to put in long days, different perspectives, and new ideas. He earned the respect of his peers early in his time here. Scott has shown himself to strive for excellence as a teacher. He holds high standards for his students. With the high expectations, he also gives his students ample access to his assistance by spending many early mornings and after school hours to help them. Scott is always willing to assist his peers and has a positive impact on the teachers who work with him.”
District 212 Superintendent Jason Harper has observed Campbell in the classroom.

“As a National Board Certified Teacher, he utilizes best teaching practices on a daily basis. More importantly, Mr. Campbell is able to connect with students of all levels and backgrounds to help improve student achievement beyond what students thought was possible,” Harper said.
“I think it is important to put into perspective what exactly the AP Physics course was for Mr. Campbell in my senior year when AP Physics was introduced at RTHS. It was an experiment of sorts that only happened because of Mr. Campbell’s extensive knowledge, background, and credentials,” 2017 RTHS grad Ben Chiavini said. “The AP Physics course did not and would not have existed without him. That meant that Mr. Campbell had to create the entire course from scratch, on his own, and format the class to meet the AP guidelines and trajectory that it needed to follow. This, however, was nothing new for him; he had already done the same thing for his Chemistry and AP Chemistry courses.”

“The ability to pick apart a large and complex problem and make it manageable is not only useful and necessary for college, but for life.”
Ben Chiavini

Chiavini, who is currently a chemistry major at the University of Illinois, said the course he took with Campbell at RTHS prepared him for his college-level work.
“AP Physics was also an unusual challenge because the Physics we were learning was calculus-based, and we were learning the very basics of calculus in our class with Mr. (Tim) Hill right alongside this class. To help us, Mr. Campbell taught the minimal amount of calculus we needed to know for the topics we covered in class,” Chiavini said. “The class itself gave me a greater understanding of derivatives (a calculus concept), taught me how to pick apart a problem and make it manageable and understandable, and made me more used to what college would be like.”
“Those last two points are the most important.  The ability to pick apart a large and complex problem and make it manageable is not only useful and necessary for college, but for life…if all taken at once, someone would go crazy and feel overwhelmed, but like a physics problem if all these issues are made smaller and more easily understandable, then they can be managed. This is what Mr. Campbell taught me in AP Physics. Almost every problem we did had many parts to it, many forces to calculate and weigh against each other, many energy and trajectory calculations. Even simply moving a box across a surface would fill up a page with work and calculations, and if taken all at once, it would be impossible, but Mr. Campbell taught us to split up the problem and identify its key parts,” Chiavini added. “AP Physics (and Mr. Campbell) prepared me for college. AP Physics was extremely difficult for the entire class, with most test averages being near the failing to low C range. For many of us, this was one of the first times that a class actually beat us down, and it taught us a great truth, especially for college: you cannot coast by in college without actually studying hard and working at a topic. We learned this by failing and because we failed we learned from our mistakes. For college students that didn’t have the luxury of having a hard teacher in high school, they are hit hard with crushing test grades. Mr. Campbell challenged me academically like I had never been challenged before.”
“Mr. Campbell is the best physics teacher I’ve had, and I have had six different physics professors at my school already (moving quickly through the curriculum). There was something about the way that he explained things that kept people paying attention, and in a physics class not filled with physics majors, that is exceptionally rare,” Matthew Malaker, a 2017 RTHS grad said. “Even in my physics classes now, there are plenty of people who aren’t as enraptured in the content as future non-STEM majors were in (Campbell’s) physics class. Mr.  Campbell didn’t do demonstrations particularly often, but each one served an exact purpose that perfectly conveyed the idea he was trying to express, and this goes for both physics and chemistry.”
Malaker is currently double majoring in physics and astrophysics at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
“Another thing I remember Mr. Campbell for was that his classes — particularly AP physics, less so for chemistry — weren’t always the class on the label. By that, I mean that he planned to have several days when we discussed things other than physics, namely college experience, the future, etc. Those classes in particular were some of the most informative and view-forming classes I have ever been in,” Malaker said. “I remember listening to a podcast once. I believe it was “Startalk” with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and he mentioned he had many physics teachers, but he had very few exceptional ones. He referenced one of his high school teachers, raving about how they were able to get students passionate about the content that they were learning and how that type of teacher was the best possible teacher in virtually every objective sense. I firmly believe that Mr. Campbell is that type of teacher.”
If I didn’t care about his class, I wouldn’t have stayed for several hours every day for several weeks to refine my titration skills in honors chemistry. If I didn’t care about his class, I wouldn’t have wanted to be a TA for a semester in AP Chemistry. If I didn’t care about his class, I wouldn’t have spent six hours every day perfecting my end-of-the-year AP Chemistry experiment,” Malaker added. “Most importantly, if I didn’t care about what he was teaching, there is a significant chance that I would not be a physics major right now. I might have found my way here some other way, but after taking Mr. Campbell’s class, I didn’t really have much of a choice in what I wanted to pursue. Every other option paled in comparison… I can guarantee that almost every student you ask will have great things to say about Mr. Campbell. To me, he was more of a mentor than a teacher.”

Many of Campbell’s students feel he not only stimulates a college environment but also makes the classes engaging and rewarding.

“Mr. Campbell excels at preparing students for their futures through coursework that simulates a college environment while also providing a tremendous student-teacher relationship that secondary education thrives on."

Alex Harvey

“Mr. Campbell excels at preparing students for their futures through coursework that simulates a college environment while also providing a tremendous student-teacher relationship that secondary education thrives on. Mr. Campbell cares about his students’ academic success and their extracurricular accomplishments,” 2018 RTHS grad and current biomedical engineering pre-med student Alex Harvey said. “He can often be observed discussing subject matter other than coursework. His class is engaging, helped by his outstanding personality and good humor, but also rewarding. Students learn much more than physics from Mr. Campbell.”
Physics. Hensley will pursue a university degree in industrial engineering. He said,
“Mr. Campbell is very good. He explains things in a way that makes it easier to understand and in addition, he offers advice when asked,” current RTHS senior Cole Hensley said.
Hensley has had Campbell for honors chemistry, AP chemistry and now AP physics and plans to pursue a university degree in industrial engineering.
“[And] he’s always here early and always makes time [for those that need extra help,” he added.
So while he never worked in aeronautical engineering, Campbell shelved neither his education nor experience. He is a member of the DeKalb County Board serving on both the finance and health and human services committees and is a member of the DeKalb School District 428 Finance Committee. Campbell also says he’s honored to serve as the President of the Rochelle Township High School teacher’s association.
He is currently a full-time doctoral student in education, and while he may consider moving into education administration, Campbell said he would be perfectly happy to retire as a teacher.
Campbell will attend the fall meeting of the Illinois Society American Association of Physics Teachers Nov. 8 through 9 at Joliet Junior College to accept his award.