Great Scott!

By Sean Dennis

Mr. Rippeon is probably one of the most unusual men on the face of the earth.Fortunately, this is also one of his most loved qualities, as illustrated by Junior Megan Fruend, who said, “Mr. Rippeon in insane and I like it!”

“[My favorite thing about teaching is] the energy I get from students… In 25 years of teaching, my students never get any older,” says Rippeon. Luckily for Mr. Rippeon, getting energy from students is one of the things that he does best. He has a variety of tactics to do this. For example, he will periodically say (or sometimes shout) certain phrases at students.  Phrases like, “Please to try,” (which he says every day before students do their warm-up) and “NOTHING SUCKS!” (which he shouts every time anybody says that something sucks). He will also randomly quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Mr. Rippeon says that one of his favorite things about teaching chemistry is that it, “gives me a chance to really delve into the way things work… and I thoroughly enjoy fire.” Fire is among one of the other tactics he uses to generate energy. Mr. Rippeon is a great fire enthusiast. Some might even accuse him of being a pyromaniac; however, as of yet, nobody has been injured, so it’s open to interpretation. “I try to use a variety of teaching methods in order to accommodate the learning style of my students,” he says.

Mr. Rippeon will occasionally switch to a British or Scottish accent in the middle of explaining something. He often blames his British mother for this. Although nobody is sure yet if the accent is authentic or not, it is always a fun experience when it happens.

Mr. Rippeon worked at the National Cancer Institute at Fr. Detrick for a year before he realized that a boring, repetitive job was not for him. He quickly took to teaching and has been teaching ever since.

In addition to teaching, Mr. Rippeon is the unified track coach. “He’s really funny and he’s a great coach. I love his accents,” Team member Chloe Rawlings said.

However, despite his hilarious tendencies and his spontaneity, he is the type of teacher who would bend over backwards to help his students. After 25 years of experience, he is an unorthodox, yet incredibly effective teacher. “I think that most lab experiences are totally backward,” says Mr. Rippeon. “Folks hear about a concept for days and days, and then go into the lab to do an “experiment” where they already know what should happen. In my classes, the students are given the basic safety issues and sent into the lab to see what happens. They are then asked to explain what happened. This gives the material we discuss in class more meaning.” He also allows students to continuously correct and resubmit labs, because he believes wholeheartedly that labs should be used as a learning tool rather than a grading tool.

His humility and his willingness to negotiate with and understand students are also wonderful qualities about Mr. Rippeon. He always cares about his students and often shows a fair amount of kindness toward them when they need it.

Although Mr. Rippeon may seem like a quirky and absurd old guy at first glance, when one truly looks into his character they are bound to see something much greater. Mr. Rippeon is an immense blessing to this school, and he will continue to be until he accidentally burns it down one day.