Movers and Shakers - Patrick Kaplo

Building a physics program from scratch was Patrick Kaplo’s task when Windham High School opened its doors in 2009. Today, WHS boasts the highest AP Physics enrollment and the only combined, Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism, calculus-based, AP Physics course in a New Hampshire public school. Patrick drives engagement by asking his students to participate in hands-on activities such as building six-foot tall trebuchets. He has hundreds of YouTube Physics videos and he initiated a high-altitude ballooning club which has launched science payloads to the edge of space. In 2017, he introduced an Engineering Capstone school-industry partnership in which students develop product proposals to pitch in a Shark Tank event. For his outstanding efforts in STEM education, Pat has been the recipient of the Milken Educator Award for New Hampshire in 2009, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching in 2016 and has been recognized by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell as a Distinguished Alumni.