Northwest

The Innovator

Josh Penrod, a mathematics and science teacher at Flowing Wells Junior High School, is not afraid to get a little physical and tell funny personal stories to teach students physics and math concepts. "He likes to jump on desks," said seventh-grader Erick Vega, 13. "He breaks rulers. He actually makes it fun." Penrod, 28, who is in his fifth year at the junior high, teaches physical science to seventh-graders and a catch-up math class for eighth-graders. He even taught art one year at the junior high, 4545 N. La Cholla Blvd. "I really feel that the students learn best when they're having fun," he said. "I really enjoy teaching science because it's hands-on." Penrod says he teaches students about friction by asking one of them - or even Assistant Principal Cathy Carey - to sit in a chair. Then he pushes the chair across a tile floor, sometimes with water on it, to show students how it slides. "He's a young guy, and he relates so well to the kids," Carey said. "He just brings a huge amount of personality to a junior high campus." Penrod teaches students about air resistance by dropping pieces of paper, rocks and balls onto the floor, asking students to guess which one will land first. He asks students to push on opposite sides of a volleyball to teach them about balanced and unbalanced forces. Penrod says he also tells funny stories - sometimes made up - about his childhood, including one about locking his siblings out of the house. He tells the stories to give students a "mental health break" and also teach them math or science concepts. When he's not teaching, he's still influencing kids at the school, where he coaches football and basketball. "I love this age," he said of the junior high students. "In junior high, the kids are still malleable."