By Ellie Smith
Features Editor
Sitting near the beaches in Rockport, MA, vacationing with his brother at his family’s beach house, James Devine enjoys taking on the difficult engineering projects involved in fixing up the home. As they repair old windows, he thinks of the project at hand and how to solve the problems he may face with the house.
Taking on challenging, engineering projects like these is the activity that new physics teacher James Devine enjoys most.
As a young boy, Devine grew up in Sandown, NH, a small town just 10 miles from Salem and only a 30 minute trip to the ocean. For college, he traveled to Lowell, MA to attend UMASS Lowell, majoring in chemical engineering.
After graduating college, he worked for his uncle’s cab and bus company as a mechanic. As an engineer, he enjoyed delving into a problem and working to figure it out.
“I really like being thrown into a problem, a deep problem that you have to solve,” said Devine. “You really have to stick with it.”
Devine learned of the opportunity to become a teacher through an article in the local newspaper. He went to an open house to get the feel for teaching and learn the experiences that teachers go through on a daily basis. In 2008, when his company downsized, he decided to make a career change. He traveled to Lawrence High School in Lawrence, MA to see what he could offer to the school.
The following school year, he was hired to teach in the math department where he taught five sections of geometry and algebra. After teaching for five years in Lawrence, he applied to teach at WA and after submitting an essay online and going through the interview process and, to his surprise, he was accepted.
Coming from an engineering background, Devine decided to teach physics because of how closely related it is to engineering. He enjoys having to solve problems and figure out how to complete the task at hand.
“Physics is just like engineering. The whole class is like an engineering project,” said Devine.
Junior Amanda Charlton, a student of his, believes he is doing his best to adjust to WA and feels he is helpful when needing clarification on a problem.
“He’s really nice and you can tell he’s trying to adjust to the school,” said Charlton. “He is constantly going over things which is helpful.”
Compared to Lawrence, Devine feels the students are more eager to learn and tend to stay focused in the classroom. He is excited for the upcoming school year and the challenges he will face as a physics teacher.
“The students [at WA] are incredible and the faculty is great,” said Devine. “The spirit of the students is a little less chaotic. The students are really engaged.”
