Former Penn State Schuylkill student to participate in summer program at MIT

Ryan Chesakis, a junior at Penn State majoring in physics in Eberly College of Science was recently selected to participate in the Teaching Opportunities in Physical Science (TOPS) program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for summer 2013. Ryan, who graduated from Schuylkill Haven Area High School in 2010 and studied his first two years (2010-12) at Penn State Schuylkill, is currently a junior at University Park.
 
TOPS is a six-week summer program aimed at physics majors who are currently in their sophomore or junior year and are considering careers in teaching at the secondary level. The program is hosted by the Center for Ultracold Atoms (CUA) at MIT and Harvard. The goal of TOPS is to provide college students with an exceptional teaching experience that will reinforce their interest in pre-college teaching.
 
Over the summer, participants will work in teams of four, each team under the supervision of an experienced lead teacher. They will design courses, emphasizing hands-on experience, which they will teach to middle school and high school students at MIT. The topics for this year's group will be waves and light, and heat and energy.
 
Ryan resides in Schuylkill Haven with his father and mother, James and Rosanne, and brothers Andrew and David.