Traveling around the world, teaching physics for 19 years, and being liked by his students, Joe Bunn has made his way to the Paw Print Teacher Spotlight. Bunn began working at South in 2003 and has taught physics every year since.

Along with having an innate passion for physics, Bunn is inspired by the scientist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is part of the reason Bunn likes to teach others about the wonderful world of science.

Bunn says he feels good about this school year, including the AP exam.

“I’m feeling pretty confident about the AP exam for my AP 1 class. I was very disappointed that we didn’t get to teach the AP physics with Calculus class though. But honors are going really well, too,” said Bunn.

Bunn states he has some goals he wants to accomplish for next year.

“There’s a few pieces that came together this year that I’m hoping to improve on just a little bit. Just as far as organizing and getting more practice with the AP exam earlier so that we have a higher percentage of students that get the 5. Every year I know I’ve taught it well enough that there’s people that get 5’s, but I just want to bring a few more kids up,” said Bunn.

Leah Geib-Ingram, a student of Bunn, thinks he is a great teacher, and she enjoys the life stories he shares about his travels encountering science outside the classroom.

“The stories about him and his wife going on vacations together always sound so amazing,” said Ingram. “He does a lot of labs and I feel like that helps understand what’s going on better.”

Isis Mejia, another student of Bunn, likes him a lot and understands the material taught in class.

“I think he’s a great teacher. He always answers my questions and really goes in depth about my questions and the procedures and the lab,” said Mejia.

“I love when he tells stories about him and his wife and all their scuba diving stuff, it’s excellent. But also, how he has a woodcutting business or something like that, and how he made his daughter a shelf, I thought that was really cool,” said Mejia.

When Bunn isn’t in the classroom, he likes to spend his free time traveling with his wife, making lasting memories.

“We just got back from Iceland. I had it on my list to see the Northern Lights, and there is a very interesting scuba dive in Iceland where you’re basically in between two continental plates. And so, you dive down, and you get your picture taken with you touching the two continental plates. We did that dive, and we did get to see the Northern Lights,” said Bunn.

Mr. Bunn also plans to travel this summer.

“This summer we’re gonna go back to Honduras, almost to the same area, but we’re going with our whole dive club. My wife is leading the whole trip,” said Bunn.

Retirement may be on the horizon for Bunn.

“[I’ll retire] sooner rather than later. This is not my last year, but it is winding down,” said Bunn.
For now, he is enjoying his time in the classroom with his students.

“It’s been a fun ride. I still enjoy teaching quite a bit, I like the teaching part of it. My students will attest that I don’t like the grading part of it, so I’m a little lax on getting some stuff graded, but I still do enjoy the teaching part every day,” said Bunn.