After 33 years of teaching, Mr. Mark Campbell is retiring from North Harford. Out of the 33 years Campbell has spent teaching, 16 have been here and the rest of the years between a combination of schools including Rising Sun High School, Fallston Middle School and Bel Air High School.
Through engaging, hands on projects students have thrived in Campbell’s sophomore F.O.T. courses. Brooke Rickey exclaimed that “my favorite part was being able to learn by doing and just being able to build stuff.” Rickey stated that Campbell’s teaching style is what set him apart from other teachers, “Mr. Campbell was always there to help us when we messed up but he always let us try to figure it out on our own.”
Throughout the school year students are involved in many projects that teach students the design process and about all areas of technology. Rickey stated, “My favorite project was the cars because they were super fun to make and mine got first which was awesome.” Being able to be enrolled in a course different from the main core classes allows students to express themselves and enjoy what they are learning which is difficult to do in math or science. Although, Rickey had spent many classes with Campbell she explained the thing she took away from the class was, “Mr. Campbell taught me that you can make anything out of the smallest scrap pieces literally and figuratively.”
Now Junior, Sarah Ortt also filled a seat in Campbell’s F.O.T. class her sophomore year. Along with many other students she concluded her favorite assignment was, “making the race cars with Mr. Campbell and learning about the design aspect of building.” Although it is difficult to top building cars, Ortt stated that she enjoyed another aspect of F.O.T.,” I enjoyed learning about making architectural drawings with Campbell along with note taking and other life skills.” Ortt now states that when going into the science field it is helpful to have learned this key information that will help her in the long run of her career.
Current F.O.T. student, Kara Kramer, also claimed that,” I loved seeing the cars race at the end of the project.” During the units taught by Campbell of either woodworking, architecture drawings and other topics, Kara recalls, “Mr. Campbell taught me how to use a coping saw.”
The common thread through all students of Mr. Campbell is there new skills they have obtained and memories of building cars they will always have. Thank you Mr. Campbell for your dedication to students here at North Harford.