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H-F teacher Brian McCarthy made learning physics concepts easy

Brian McCarthy is retiring after 33 years of teaching physics at H-F High School. (Provided photo)

For 33 years, Brian McCarthy taught abstract concepts at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. He retires this month.

Hundreds of alumni remember McCarthy as their physics teacher. He went into the field in part because his parents believed, “I would do a good job explaining what was going on,” he recalls.

“Part of it is just the language we use in physics is math and really it’s like teaching a foreign language. You’re learning what’s going on in the world, but mathematically,” the retiring teacher said. “Some of it also is when we can tie in what we do in class to real world applications.”

Brian McCarthy is retiring after 33 years of teaching physics at H-F High School. (Provided photo)

H-F was looking for a physics teacher in 1987, and McCarthy was the only senior at Illinois State University graduating with a degree in physics. He applied and was offered the job.

The biggest change for him over the years has been the use of computers that made his job, and his teaching, much easier. 

“In 1987 when I started, there were no computers for teachers to use. For attendance I would fill in a little bubble sheet and drop it into a mail slot and someone would come by and deliver it to the attendance office,” he recalled. 

 And his teaching has gone from using stop watches and strings to computers to online simulation. McCarthy says computers “help the kids visualize some of the things that are really abstract.” But by using the right simulation “you’ll find pictures of things that you can’t see otherwise. It allows them to understand what is going on.”

He would invite guest speakers to class to give students ideas on careers using math and physics concepts. 

Physics is part of the core curriculum at H-F. McCarthy said his students generally were juniors. Over the years, many of his students have gone on to do some amazing things.

Dan Abramov was an intern at SpaceX when it was developing a rocket that could return to earth and land on a barge. 

“Just out of the blue he contacted me about speaking to classes, and of course I said yes. He had a goal of building SpaceX and he was part of a model rocket ship club at Northwestern (University) and that got the whole ball rolling,” McCarthy said. “There have been a lot of great kids over the years, I’d be talking for hours.” 

He mentioned Eugene Soltes, now the Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. And H-F alumna Anjali Kumar, nationally recognized attorney and entrepreneur, recently mentioned McCarthy as one of her favorite teachers.

Yes, he’s had students who have gone on to do great things, but no, McCarthy seems to shrug off any influence he may have had.

“I don’t know. A lot of these kids, I really think by the time they get to me their parents have really done the job getting them on the right track of where they’re going to go,” he said. He believes students do well when parents value education, instill a work ethic and support the school.

McCarthy reflects that being a physics teacher: “It’s really been a good job for me. The people I work with, they’re just so great. I really enjoyed being with them day in and day out. This whole coronavirus (school closing) I found that I really miss seeing them every day.”

With retirement approaching, McCarthy said he’s going for a change of scenery because “I’m very tired of winters in Chicago.” He and his wife, Christine, will be relocating to the southeastern U.S.

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