A Little More

Did you hear about the meteorologist competition? The losers received precipitation awards! This might be one of the many dad jokes you'll hear from Anthony Santorelli in one of his physical science classes. Before he was teaching in the classroom, Santorelli grew up fascinated with weather. It wouldn’t be surprising to find him watching The Weather Channel over cartoons. He had such a fascination with day-to-day weather changes in elementary school that he jumped at the opportunity to meet his local television meteorologist. Now, he's married to a meteorologist and his interests continue to be in the weather and the role the oceans play. This helps fuel what he teaches in his classes.

Santorelli, who teaches classes in general physical science, oceanography, meteorology and global climate change, always tries to create a comfortable atmosphere in the classroom. He wants students to learn new things and be able to ask questions freely. When he’s not in the classroom, Santorelli, who helped develop the Earth Science program when he came to AACC in 2014, can be found working out ways to strengthen his classes and the overall program.

He also is lead advisor for AACC’s Super Science Club, which attracts those who enjoy and want to share their enthusiasm for the many science disciplines as well as math. Club members get to hear from career scientists and promote the field both on and off campus. The club has taken field trips to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the National Cryptologic Museum and the National Aquarium, among other places. It has also worked with the Genders and Sexualities Alliance and the Sculpture Club in cultivating the Pride Pollinator Garden on campus. It’s no surprise that many students declare a science or math as their major and plan to transfer to four-year schools, but the club also attracts members who aren’t even science majors.

Santorelli cultivates a strong bond with his students and is always bummed when classes end. He sees transformation in each of his students – mostly nonscience majors fulfilling general education requirements. By the end of the term, they see science to be much more fun and important to their daily lives than they thought going into the course.

"In conclusion, weather or not it started out that way, we developed good chemistry as seen by their reactions!" Santorelli said. If you found that joke funny, maybe you should register for one of his classes!