Posted by By Oscar Vandermer, Staff Writer
Bryan Gomez understood the value of education from a young age. Growing up with his parents and brothers in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, his father always imparted that it would bring more to his life. But he never thought he’d pursue teaching as a full time career.
“I figured I should try and find something I love, not just what will make me the most money.”
Mr. Gomez
“For years I actually considered a career in medicine,” Gomez said, “but watching my brother’s mental health take a serious dive while he was in medical school made me question if that was really the path I wanted to take. I figured I should try and find something I love, not just what will make me the most money.”
As a high school senior Gomez was accepted into SUNY Buffalo’s pharmacy school, an option he seriously considered but ultimately didn’t pursue. “I didn’t want to constrict myself by having to just deal with pharmacy stuff the rest of my life,” he said, “so I decided to enroll at UAlbany as a chemistry major!”
The first thing you choose isn’t always the thing you stick with, something Gomez realized again as he switched his major from chemistry to biology. “It was actually my biology teachers’ pedagogy that most heavily influenced the switch. They were always really exciting and inspiring as opposed to chemistry where I felt that I had to rely on outside resources pretty often.” Gomez said.
“I always try to make my lessons exciting, bring in real world connections, and I really try to just speak openly with my students.”
Mr. Gomez
Gomez eventually started tutoring other students in biology, a critical step in his path towards becoming a teacher here, at New Paltz High School . “I already knew I wanted to do something in biology, and the friends and peers I tutored all told me I was really good at it, so I thought to myself: What career would combine biology and teaching? And ‘biology teacher’ was the obvious answer of course!” The same college professors who influenced that switch from biology to chemistry also influenced the way Gomez teaches his students now. “I always try to make my lessons exciting, bring in real world connections, and I really try to just speak openly with my students.”
While his love of biology was what pushed Gomez towards a career in education, it’s the students that have kept him passionate about the profession, “Seeing growth in students and helping them navigate such a difficult transitional time is why I really love teaching,” he says. “I also really enjoy engaging with individual students and seeing how they’re grasping the concepts, because everyone’s a different learner who has a unique way of thinking.”
Gomez only recently moved to New Paltz, but he’s enjoyed the new environment; one where he can effectively individualize students’ educations. “It was really difficult to do that, especially coming from a New York City school with over 4000 kids, and now I can focus on students individually and see their progress and growth. I’m super happy about it.”
Now that he has the freedom to give students his undivided attention, Bryan Gomez has a new goal: to make “science” less of a dirty word. Gomez believes science is the most important subject taught in schools, and that a better education in it would be of great utility, “The scientific community has tons of rational thinkers, and I think developing those critical thinking skills required for science in our students would be really beneficial.”
But that’s not the only benefit of science according to Gomez. He believes more rigorous science education would lead to a more cooperative society of open-minded, intellectual thinkers, “I think it’s especially important now with new technologies to have a community of people who can’t be as easily skewed by incorrect information.”
Gomez feels he’s seen science less encouraged as years go by, and he wants to see that change: “I want to make science courses more rigorous, but make them more accessible at the same time.” Gomez says, “I want students to be able to have fun with science, and not just brush it off because it’s ‘too hard’.”
“I want students to be able to have fun with science, and not just brush it off because it’s ‘too hard’.”
Mr. Gomez
He doesn’t only have lofty ideas of what needs to be fixed. He has plans for action. “At the high school level, I’d want to see more science focused clubs,” says Gomez, “but I also feel like we should teach science more kinesthetically to younger kids. Every day I watch my six-month-old exploring and discovering new objects, and it really reminds me that people are inherently curious. I want school to foster that child-like wonder in older people and encourage creativity!”
With Bryan Gomez as the newest addition to the team, the NPHS science department is facing forward, but the only way for change to occur really is for students to express interest. The hope is for more students to enroll in classes like AP Biology or AP Chemistry. They’re challenging, but they’re fun and teachers with some of the same goals as Mr. Gomez are there to help every step of the way.
The Maroon 