Uncategorized
Profile: Professor Paul
Published
11 years agoon
By Joseph T. O’Connor ExploreBigSky.com Editor
BIG SKY – A beaker labeled “pure snow” sits in the sink on the long wall of Paul Swenson’s classroom at Lone Peak High School. At the front of the room, under the periodic table and a cast of a grizzly paw print, the dry erase board reads Molarity = moles/(1 liter). Beneath is scrawled, “Come up with a procedure.”
Swenson, 49, a math and science teacher at LPHS, instills in his students the importance of procedure; and not just as it relates to the world of chemistry. He says interdisciplinary education is key to understanding ideas.
“Our philosophy [at LPHS] is you don’t just do science in chemistry class; you don’t just write in English class; you don’t just do math in geometry class,” says Swenson, who helped design the high school curriculum before the doors opened in 2009. “There are overarching themes, and we want students to understand five or six points of view for any [one subject].”
Swenson grew up in the Gallatin Valley with teaching in his blood – his father was the head of the physics department at Montana State University for 20 years. His grandfather was principal of Hawthorn Elementary School in Bozeman.
But no one knew Swenson would follow suit in academia. He’s an avid outdoorsman, something also instilled in him at a young age while spending summers at a cabin across from the Almart Lodge, now the Cinnamon Lodge, learning lessons only the outdoors can teach.
“The day after school would get out [for summer], my mother would take my two sisters and me up here,” said Swenson, who now has three children of his own. “By the fourth or fifth grade, I’d pack a lunch and say, ‘See you tonight, Mom.’”
Swenson’s parents, Robert and Janet, nurtured this outdoor interest.
“We gave each of the kids Indian names,” said Robert, who retired from MSU in 1998 and now spends winters with Janet in Tuscon, Ariz. Paul’s was Croaking Toad.
“He’d go to a nearby pond and bring these [toads] back and play with them all day,” said the elder Swenson. “Then he’d take them back in the evening.”
In 1986, Swenson graduated from MSU with bachelor’s degrees in physics and geophysics. That fall he received his acceptance notice from Stanford University, where he would earn a master’s in geophysics. He hadn’t expected to get in.
“My favorite professor at MSU told me to apply,” Swenson said. “I knew if I didn’t get in I’d get to be a bum for a while, so when I was accepted, I was like, ‘damn.’”
Swenson moved to California’s Bay Area, earning his Master of Science in 1988, but he knew the city wasn’t for him. He returned to Montana and earned a teaching certificate from MSU after learning Big Sky was planning a high school.
“I’d rather spend my time fishing and hiking than going to concerts and riding the train,” he said.
When he’s not spending time outdoors with his family, Swenson indulges in what his father calls his “secret life” – music and art.
He plays mandolin in the Fish Camp Band, a two-piece ensemble with friend John Gospodarek, of West Yellowstone, and they also play in the West-based Kennedy and the Assassins. As an avid painter, Swenson uses nature as his muse.
Teaching has been a natural fit. In 2011 Swenson won the Boyne Excellence in Achievement award for his work with students outside the LPHS classroom.
Together with University of Montana geography professor Rick Graetz, Swenson is connecting LPHS and UM students, encouraging to submit work for publication in university magazines.
Graetz says LPHS is successful in part because of the efforts of “Professor Paul” – his nickname for Swenson – and that he could teach at any college in the country.
“He’s passionate about science and believes [in] the same stuff I do,” said Graetz, who lives in Big Sky part-time. “I couldn’t possibly do without people like Paul in the field. The kids and the school are lucky to have a guy of his caliber in the school system.”
The two are also collaborating on a weeklong student expedition to Glacier National Park in spring, where kids will study the ecology, geology and geography in northern Montana and how the area relates to the Yellowstone region. Swenson feels this format will help his students develop a procedure they’ll be able to use throughout their lives.
“When they’re on top of Lone Peak, I want them to know about what they’re looking at – not just white triangles called mountains.”
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome to come, if you don’t know who to bring come alone this is a great mixer event! This is an event hosted by Big Sky OUT as we work to provide queer safe spaces throughout the community.
Time
(Sunday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
Cowboy Coffee
25 Town Center Ave. Big Sky, MT 59716