For the record
Mr. Pernicek relates to retro vinyl as he closes in on his 33 and ⅓ year of teaching at Sandy Creek
Launch the media gallery 1 playerOn November 7th, science teacher Mr. Darrell Pernicek celebrated a unique anniversary with his students and staff. Being a teenager of the 70’s, Pernicek applied a vintage music term to a milestone in his career. In an email that he sent to the staff and showed to his students, Pernicek pointed out that the rpm of a LP record is 33 ⅓. This also happens to be the number of years Pernicek has been teaching.
“I have reached the LP album stage of my career,” said Pernicek in the email.
For one third of a century, Pernicek has been the groovy and beloved teacher of many students at Sandy Creek High School, beginning his teaching career here when he was just in his twenties.
Senior Katrina Anderson said, “my favorite thing about Mr. Pernicek is the way he manages to add in fun experiments to help you better understand the material. He’s very engaging in the way he teaches.”
Anderson has taken 4 classes with Mr. Pernicek and says she has enjoyed every single course. The passion of his students seems to be a common thread.
“Mr. Pernicek keeps the lessons interesting and he makes me want to learn,” said sophomore Cassie Perry.
For his 33 ⅓ years, it would most likely be agreed upon by most students that Pernicek has made a big difference with his teaching style.
Another trait that Pernicek is known for is his huge extent of uncommon knowledge. Before he starts teaching everyday, he and his class attempt to answer a Trivial Pursuit question of the day. (He usually knows the answer, no matter how obscure the question.) Pernicek also seems to have the ability to answer any random or complicated inquiry posed by students.
“There’s never a dull moment; I’m still getting new questions from students,” said Pernicek.
Examples of subjects that Pericek is asked about include mermaids, jello, aliens, diffusers and cows. He rarely dismisses a question and treats each student's curiosity very seriously.
“You can ask him any question, even if it is irrelevant, and he know’s the answer,” said Junior Genesis Ramirez.
Though multitudes of random conversations arise, Pernicek always manages to relate them back to the science lesson of the day in the end.
Senior and foreign exchange student Leona Uhlendorff said, “I love the fact that he knowingly gets distracted so easily, and he still teaches us something.”
Boring is not a word that would describe Pernicek’s science classes. There is no repetitive routine, and the class is positively unpredictable.
“I could not see myself doing the same thing over and over again; it’s constantly different every day and every year,” said Pernicek.
The next version of vinyl is a single 45 and Pernicek is 11 ⅔ years away from hitting that occasion.
On whether or not he will teaching for 45 years, Pernicek said, “It depends on my health, family situation and if I’m still having fun.”
It would be far out to have Mr. Pernicek teach at Sandy Creek forever, and hopefully Pernicek’s album has many more hit songs on it for many more ears to hear!
“When I walked into the doors for the first time, I never thought that I’d be here this long. Thanks for the opportunity, it has been a real blessing,” said Pernicek.