By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

Felicity High seniors Junior Bataille (left) and Matt Davidson chart a physics experiment, exploring the acceleration of a mass under the influence of gravity. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

FELICITY - As the bell rings at 8:49 a.m., six students wander into Brian Binion's second-period physics class at Felicity-Franklin High School.

Binion asks one how her baby-sitting job went. He talks to another about Saturday's cross-country meet. To a third, he asks about a long weekend spent studying for upcoming tests.

After they are seated, Binion, perched on a wooden stool in front of his students, asks a question:

"If a person drops a hammer and a feather in a vacuum, which hits the ground first?"

The students hurriedly flip through notes. They test each other's knowledge. They fire questions at Binion and then discuss the Italian physicist Galileo, whose research yielded the answer to the question: The hammer and feather hit at the same time.

This is a classroom that works, students and Felicity-Franklin officials say, because it's not what the kids are learning, but how they're learning.

And it all starts with Binion's teaching style, said Jeff Weir, principal of the 400-student school in Clermont County.

"Kids have a real exaggerated sense that adults don't care," he said. "But Brian possesses a genuine concern for them. They know he likes them. He sits them down and says, 'We're going to get through this together.' It's a relatively rare package."

Binion, who also teaches chemistry and general science, was selected this year to teach the school's first Advanced Placement class.

Senior Natalie Wacks, 17, is taking two science classes this year - physics and AP biology - and hopes to pursue a pharmacy career. Early in her freshman year, however, she struggled in general science.

That was before Binion got through to her.

"He practices a lot of hands-on stuff and that's the way I learn,'' Wacks said.

Binion, 32, doesn't rely strictly on the textbook when teaching physics.

"Science lends itself to experimentation and projects. It's easy to get the kids up and moving, but the challenge is making sure they learn," said Binion, a Morehead State University graduate who is in his eighth year of teaching at Felicity-Franklin.

Binion, who puts in more than 60 hours a week on classes and extra-curriculars, seems to have inexhaustible energy. Perhaps it comes from keeping up with his two pre-school children or from climbing over desks in the crowded classroom as he helps students with experiments.

He keeps the classes moving, splitting them up into 15-minute blocks of experiments, discussion, lecture and peer tutoring in lab groups.

Students are challenged in unpredictable ways, such as studying velocity and acceleration by building and testing a roller coaster made of wooden toys.

"I try to give them hands-on stuff,'' Binion said. "On the bridge project, I had them assume the role of a designer and pitch (the plan) to a community, complete with on-ramps and exit ramps, for a bridge over a holler here in the district.

"If a kid wants to be a doctor or a nurse, they don't get to college chemistry and get lost," he said. "So far, I'm hearing back from students that they're doing well and know things their classmates don't know."

And students are also learning problem-solving skills and teamwork.

"He puts a challenge in the experiments, and he makes you do them yourself and find out how to fix your own problems," said senior Anthony Hatfield.

One of his former students, Stacey Roberts of Felicity, attends University of Cincinnati-Clermont. The 2001 graduate said Binion's approach helped prepare her for science at college.

"I've never really enjoyed science at all, but with (Binion), it was enjoyable,'' she said. "You could tell how much he enjoyed it, and that rubbed off on the rest of us.''

Binion also coaches cross-country, tutors students for the proficiency tests and coaches the Clermont County Science Challenge teams. He credits his teaching success to what he's learned from his colleagues, as well as himself, along the way.

"My teaching improved a lot when I just lightened up and became myself," he said. "But I'm not to the level I want to be yet. I have things I want to do and ideas in my head that I'm still trying to figure out how to do."

As far as Weir is concerned, Binion already has a skill that can't be taught.

"Teaching is a lot more about who you are as a human being than what you know," Weir said. "Knowledge can be acquired, but teaching is a personal thing."

About this series"Classrooms that Work'' spotlights a local classroom in which teachers are challenging students in bold, innovative ways.

To nominate a class, e-mail bcieslewicz@enquirer.com, fax (513) 768-8340 or write Bill Cieslewicz, Education Editor, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202. Please include your name, daytime phone, e-mail and school.