Allen Wootton?

by Betty Barton

Allen Wootton is a board mem-.

ber of the Terrace Co-op, a writer,
a science teacher, and the teacher-

sponsor of the provincial Physics

Olympics team from Caledonia
Senior Secondary School.

This year, the Caledonia team
placed second out of 56 teams
from throughout the province at
the annual University of British
Columbia Physics Olympics. All
but 14 of the teams were from the
lower mainiand. Prince Rupert
Senior Secondary and Caledonia
sent the only teams from this area.

Last year, Caledonia placed first
in the competition. "You (the

teacher) have to prime the pump’

and then it works by itself,"
explains Wootton. "It’s the same
with the students. I think they were
baffled at times, but they never
floundered,"

Allen feels it’s most important
that Caledonia have teams there
who are competent and who show
a willingness to work together as a
team. He points out realistically,
"We can’t always keep up first and
second place, but we can maintain
the team work and team spirit."
This is Allen Wootton’s third year
as teacher-sponsor of the Physics
Olympics team at Caledonia. Cal
has participated in the event since
the late °70’s when John Toews
was their teacher-sponsor. Each
year, it starts with the forming of
the extracurricular Science Club at
Caledonia and evolves into the

Physics Olympics team.

"I just try to encourage them and
give them practise in the rules of
physics and electrical resistance,”
says Wootton of the Black Box
exercise, which is one of the seven
events judged in the Physics
Olympics.

Physics Olympics began in 1977, §
a year in which Allen was a visit- |

ing lecturer at UBC. As an organ- jam
izex, he looked after one event that Jaae

year. Allen says of himself, "I’ve §
always been a science teacher, @

although I have taught elementary Hy

school. As a kid, I got a ham |
[radio] licence, which introduced |

me to electronics.” Allen says he | 7

always really liked science and
mechanical things and electronics.
His parents were always interested
in learning. Both his sister and
mother were teachers, and his
father was a commercial artist.

Allen began his teaching career
with a practicum at Caledonia.
Now that he’s had experience at
all levels, he can honestly say that
he prefers science at the senior
secondary school -level because
"they [the students] start really
putting it together and they’re
beginning to see where they’re
going." He has taught at Skeena,
Caledonia, lectured at UBC,
returned to Cal, and taught in
Bella Coola. He retumed to Ter-
race with his family three years
ago. He goes on to say, "I’ve got
two nice kids and really nice stu-
dents. With teaching and the fam-
ily, I don’t have much time for
anything else."

Allen Wootton (third from left) is frequently a public representative of science as well as a teacher
of it. Last week he received a cheque from Audun Birkedaal of the Terrace Rotary Club in support
of the schools’ science fair. With him were Physic Olympics team members Scott Loptson and
David Shepherd, displaying a device that helped them place second in the province at the 1991

event.

Contrary to this statement, Allen
wrote "a piece of the Grade 9
science textbook" (a three-year
project) and he is currently rewrit-
ing some of the Grade 10 science
textbook. At one time, he was
editor of B.C. Science Teacher
magazine and did some reviewing
for them Qohn Wyley and Sons).
"It’s been a great learning experi-
ence, but too much of 2 project
when you’re also teaching."

Allen teaches only Physics 11
and 12 at Caledonia. There is such
an interest in it, he says, that there
isn’t time for other subjects. Dur-

ing Science Week, Allen Wootton
and fellow teachers Nancy Bose
and John Chen Wing are acting as
coordinators of the Science Week
activities and the Science Fair.
"You don’t have to be a really
dedicated science student to par-
ticipate in Science Week", explains
Allen. Leading up to Science
Week, School District 88 students
have been experimenting in their
classrooms, growing seedlings and
working with Discovery Boxes
(see the Science Week special
section) which contain a host of
science-related activities. Tonight

scientist George VanderKuur will
be guest speaker at Caledonia,

Allen adds a pat on the back to
fellow science teacher and Science
Week coordinator John Chen
Wing, “Terraces owes a lot to John
Chen Wing for keeping it (the
Science Fair) going."

Chen Wing has been involved
with the local Science Fair since
its inception over 25 years ago.
The Science Fair is this week-
end’s big event, and Allen Woot-
ton is looking forward to secing all
the young minds in action on their
many projects,

~ $40 rebate

get a $40 rebate, and there are super energy-efficient models with a super rebate of $65. Be sure to ask your salesperson to show
you the qualifying Power Smart models. Complete lists also available from your salesperson or local Hydro office. You will also
receive our special Power Smart rebate form. Fill it out and send it in with proof of purchase. Your rebate will be on its way.

And because your new fridge is Power Smart, you also get on-going energy savings, So you save now...and you save later.

la

° $65 rebate

ee There aré now more than 200 Power Smart energy-efficient refrigerators for you to choose from. And to help you decide, Hydro is offering significant 7

cash rebates, When you're shopping for a new fridge, just look for the Power Smart sticker. There are energy-efficient models for which you can