Fort Thomas schools take on new teaching personnel every year. This year there are numerous fresh teachers joining the Highlands High School staff. This includes a new physics teacher, Gordon Hallmark.
Hallmark graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in science in physics. He then went back to get his master’s in curriculum and instruction. He was inspired to become a teacher because he had good experiences with his past instructors and he wanted to use his knowledge to help shape his students’ futures today.
“I had a lot of great teachers back in the day, so I was kind of inspired by them to start teaching,” Hallmark said.
Hallmark is teaching physics this year. Although physics can be a hard topic for many freshman students, he plans to make his physics classroom enjoyable and entertaining to help combat the difficult subject.
“Physics has a reputation for being the worst class anybody has to take and I want to break that. It’s my first year, so I can make a new reputation for physics at this school and I’d like to,” Hallmark said.
Being new to Fort Thomas, one of Hallmark’s objectives for this school year is to become more involved within the community. This includes him becoming involved with his students’ academic and social lives.
“I try to make personal connections with all of my students so at the beginning of every year, I make an effort to get to know them and talk to every single one of them,” Hallmark said.
Having a welcoming and warm environment in his classroom is another one of Hallmark’s goals for this school year. This will ensure that students feel comfortable learning in his classroom. Although physics is usually not a favorite subject for many, Hallmark is determined to stay positive in the classroom while teaching the tough subject.
“Just trying to stay positive. You can’t come in with a negative attitude or everyone else comes in with a negative attitude and you also can’t tolerate kids ridiculing each other because that ruins the overall vibes of the classroom,” Hallmark said.
On another note, looking back at his past, Hallmark had bartended for a couple years before he decided to begin his teaching career. Alongside being a bartender, he was also a server for a wedding venue for a short period of time.
“I mostly got involved with bartending because that is an upgrade from my serving job (more pay, easier work). I enjoyed it because I could talk to a lot of people and learn a bunch of interesting stuff about strangers. It was a hard job but it is satisfying to make something for someone and have them enjoy it while talking with you,” Hallmark said.
Looking towards the future now, Hallmark hopes to stay with his teaching career until his eventual retirement. After his retirement, he dreams of becoming a tour guide for a national park.
“An interesting fact about me is that I have wanted to be a park ranger for most of my life, and I still dream of becoming a tour guide at a national park when I retire,” Hallmark said.
Hallmark is extremely ecstatic for this school year and he is ready and prepared to attack any challenges he might face throughout the course of his first year. His biggest goal for his classroom is to have all of his students pass his physics course.
“I hope to make it through with nobody failing my class, that would be a big achievement for me, I also want to get the kids that don’t want to be in my class to get interested in something academically,” Hallmark said.
