Dr. Robert Corell knew that he was drawn to the sciences after conducting independent research on white and red-eyed fruit flies when he was a junior in high school, later choosing to pursue a PhD in chemistry. Now, Corell begins his 25th year at PHS, teaching AP Chemistry and Chemistry I Accelerated. Although for many students chemistry isn’t the easiest subject to learn and understand, Dr. Corell makes sure his students are on the path to achieving their goals and fulfilling the potential that he sees in them.

   Corell began his teaching career right out of college. While studying for his master’s and PhD, he worked as a teaching assistant. After earning his graduate degrees, he taught at Spotswood High School for a year before transitioning to his position at PHS.

   While in his class, Corell wants students to feel engaged but challenged by the content. He believes that students in accelerated tracks need a different style of teaching in order to truly succeed.

   “I try to run a well organized class to try and help the students become organized,” said Corell. “That’s one of the things that I think … the top students need the most help with. They’re all smart, but most of them have spent their K–8 years being the smartest kid in class, and not having to do a lot of work to be successful.”

   Corell tries to provide a structure for his students in which they ask questions and are able to come up with their own answers. He mentions that the kids who self-motivate and stay organized are the ones who are able to succeed in his classes. For many of his students, Corell’s way of setting expectations further helps them improve and challenge them academically.

   “He’s definitely intense and his teaching style is quick, but most things are pretty straightforward. I'd say he’s good at making sure that all of his students are doing well,” said Accelerated Chemistry I student Jane Bennett ’24.

   On top of the high expectations and extra attention from Corell, his students mention his positive attitude towards learning makes it all more fun to communicate with him.

   “He’s a lot of fun to have as a teacher … He’s great at explaining everything and when you go to him for help, he explains things in a way that makes sense. He’s [also] a sarcastic person … so it’s more fun to have conversations with him.” said AP Chemistry student Audrey Kang ’24. 

   Alongside teaching his classes, Corell is also involved in running multiple activities outside of school, including Chemistry Club and PHS’s summer Chemistry I Accelerated course. He believes that the summer program has been a positive addition to PHS.

   “We felt that we could do a better job than the other institutions that were providing the summer program. And we thought we could use the money that we were making with the summer program to provide scholarships for those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, who don't generally appear in the AP program,” said Corell. “We’ve been successful beyond our wildest dreams in the first part of the program.”

   On his career journey, Corell faced no shortage of challenges. Due to his nontraditional education, when he first started teaching, he felt unprepared for his students. 

   “My entry into teaching at the high school level was definitely very rough. Having never gone to a teaching college, I went what’s called an alternative route. so I actually did not get my first course in how to teach until I actually had been teaching for several days,” said Corell. “Both my first year at Spotswood and my first year here were definitely very rough. And if it wasn’t for the support I received from certain people at the time, I wouldn’t be here.”

   Corell notes that COVID-19 was also a challenge in his teaching career, though one that created an opportunity for growth. He mentions that before the pandemic he had a very “lecture-and-slideshow-dependent” teaching style but needed to condense his lessons in order to fit the time crunch. 

   “COVID-19 forced us to really think about how we used our time when we were remote last year. We literally had 50 percent of the instructional time that we had in a normal year. So we had to think about, especially for a course like an accelerated course, how [to] deliver the content,” Corell said.

   Nevertheless, the pandemic did not stop him from helping his students achieve their goals in class. One thing that Corell did to adapt to COVID-19 was to implement something called flipped learning. 

   “The idea of the flipped learning style in its purest form, is to take what would normally happen in the classroom, and make that homework,” said Corell. “The idea is [that] you do [the practice] in front of the teacher. So the teacher can walk around and give one-on-one or small group help.”

   Outside of PHS, Corell enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife.

  “Before COVID-19, my wife and I were definitely enjoying our empty nest. We liked to go see the 4 [p.m.] movie almost every week, and then go out to dinner afterwards,” said Corell. “And I love to travel, I love to go to places I haven’t been before. New Orleans is a great city to go visit. I enjoyed my trip there just a couple of weeks ago.”

   During his 24 years of teaching at PHS, Corell believes that he has learned many lessons and encountered many obstacles, but sees these as just another aspect that makes his job interesting.

   “If you don’t improve in the beginning, you’re certainly not going to last. And there are still challenges. COVID threw a curveball at us. New administrators throw a curveball at us. There’s always challenges to overcome,” said Corell. “But it’s one of the things that makes the job fun. It’s not the same year after year, it doesn’t get boring.”