Bill Jameson: More Than Your Average Physics Teacher

While Mr. Bill Jameson may seem like a tech wizard or a mad scientist at first glance, he is known within the school for being one of the quirkier and more interesting teachers once you get to know him. When asked how someone as knowledgeable and educated as himself wound up teaching physics courses at DeForest, he was ready to fill us in. 

“Prior to teaching, I studied Engineering Physics and Civil Engineering in college, then came to UW-Madison for graduate school in Physics. While in graduate school, I realized that I loved teaching a lot more than I liked being a scientist, so I got my Masters degrees in Physics, and switched to the school of education to become a high school physics teacher, and completed that work in June 1997.”

After discussing how he came about to teaching, Jameson explained what made him choose DeForest.

“I came to DAHS at the start of the 1997-98 school year. The school had posted a job opening for “Physical Science and AP Physics”, and it turned out I was the only person to apply for the position, because the principal offered me the job at the end of the interview. It also turned out that the AP Physics class didn’t exist yet, and what they wanted was a teacher to create an AP Physics class for the school. “

Now that Jameson had the job, he was in charge of setting up the AP Physics course, and once he gathered his resources and settled in, he decided that he was ready to stay at DeFo.

“I taught freshman physical science for 15 years, as well as AP Physics. About 15 years ago I started teaching Physics also, and about 10 years ago stopped teaching any Physical Science, as my schedule filled up with physics, AP physics, and then Principles of Engineering. This is my 25th year at DAHS. “

While Jameson’s courses are more niche than your average math or science class, he enjoys what he teaches and does a good job of it, and even though they stuffed his room into a dark corner of the STEAM wing, full of machines you have no hope of understanding, you can always find him tinkering with loose parts, repairing old machinery, or conducting elaborate tests using his lab and the tools at his disposal. So if you’re ever looking for Mr. Jameson for whatever reason, just head over to the STEAM wing and look for the tall guy with long braided hair, usually in his lab tinkering with another one of his complex projects.