Elizabeth Parisi is a new physics teacher at Pascack Valley High School this year. She is teaching one conceptual physics class and three physics classes.
Although this is her first year teaching at PV, Parisi has plenty of experience at this school, having graduated from PV previously.
Parisi graduated from Pascack Valley in 2018 and returned as a teacher this year.
“Getting to be back here is amazing,” Parisi said.
During the interview process for the job, Parisi was asked to do a demo lesson in a science class in front of administrators. Among administrators was Supervisor of the Science and Technology Department Megan Graziano, who praised Parisi’s teaching abilities.
“She was clear and concise, and I feel like she made physics accessible and fun for all of the students that she was teaching,” said Graziano.
Parisi has a very hands-on approach in the classroom. She utilizes the students’ lab periods to teach in a collaborative way that uses real-life examples.
“I do a lot of notes with them and make sure they have stuff written in their notebook they can look back on, but I also do a lot of labs with them,” said Parisi. “Having that real-life perspective and interacting with the equipment and interacting with the concepts is super important.”
Parisi balances her classes with a mixture of learning and having fun. Recently, Parisi assigned a lab where students created rockets and shot them into the sky to find their launch velocity.
Although Parisi said there were many things she loved about teaching, she believes the people around her are her favorite part of her job.
“I love all of my coworkers and the students, too,” Parisi said. “I love hearing about what all of [the students] are involved in.”
Physics can have a tough reputation, but Graziano expressed that Parisi does a great job of helping her students understand the difficult concepts.
“I thought that it was really unique that she could really make [physics] seem like something anybody can be successful with,” said Graziano. “Ms. Parisi has a wonderful, positive, youthful energy about her.”
Parisi graduated from The College of New Jersey in 2022; during her studies, she researched high school students’ interest in physics as a major and career.
“[I studied] mostly juniors and their perspective on going into a career in physics,” said Parisi. “My entire research was about that, so I did that in my undergraduate experience at TCNJ; it was really fun.”
Parisi’s results showed that most students don’t know how many employment opportunities to which physics can lead.
“Most of them [think] that being a teacher or engineer is the only physics career option, but if you get a degree in physics, you can do so much more with that,” Parisi said.
Parisi thinks that Pascack Valley does a great job of implementing the physics curriculum in a way that informs the students and introduces them to new physics-related opportunities.
“I think our district is doing a really great job at trying to create an understanding in physics and introducing careers in physics,” Parisi said.
Parisi’s excited to be back in PV’s atmosphere, and her time as a teacher in the school is only beginning.
“I wouldn’t trade my job for the world,” said Parisi.
