Written by Ethan Cottrill
Imagine yourself in Albuquerque watching the solar eclipse, because that’s exactly where MVS’s very own Mr. Bryant was that weekend. Mr. Bryant has many varied interests and hobbies that extend beyond MVS, including photography. To photograph a “ring of fire” eclipse, he has been planning on going to Albequence as it is one of the only few cities in the path to observe the full “ring of fire” eclipse.
Photo credits: NASA
Mr. Bryant has been teaching Physics since 1999. After graduating from Kent State, he taught at Archbishop Haven in Akron for more than 13 years and then spent more than 10 years teaching in Kentucky. To embark on a new experience, he came to Dayton to work at Miami Valley School. For the past three years, Mr. Bryant has been experimenting with a new style of teaching physics, which resembles MVS’s Immersion Method. So he set out to find a school where this kind of teaching was possible, and Miami Valley School was perfect in that aspect. This is his first year at MVS, and so far he likes it here. He noted that “students are interested in learning” and that they “do well.” He also commented that it is a great place to work and he is looking forward to new experiences like immersion. Some differences about MVS that stood out to him were the smaller class sizes and the ability to get to know people better. At his other teaching jobs, he would have anywhere from 100-120 students, which is around the population of our entire high school! These smaller class sizes allow him to get to know students better give better feedback, and learn everyone’s name, something very difficult at a school where you have to teach 120 students a day.
Mr. Bryant also stated that everyone is super friendly at MVS, and it’s a lot easier to get to know teachers. He said his work has shifted from being in his classroom all day to other things that are more beneficial to the students. He has been trying to integrate a style of teaching similar to the immersion method for day-to-day teaching the past three years at his other schools, but said that at MVS, “I feel like I walked into a place where what I’m trying to do is what everyone’s expected to do.”
In regards to Immersion, Mr. Bryant is hosting the Space Jaunt immersion where the students will go to a space camp in Huntsville, Alabama for a week, while exploring other space and robotics-related activities in Ohio.
As you know, Mr. Bryant is quite interested in photography, but his list of hobbies includes everything from playing Dungeons and Dragons to hiking in the mountains to teaching astronomy camp at middle schools in Wyoming. In case you are interested in some of his photos, you can look at some here: https://www.mattbryantphoto.com/
