Teacher Loves Sports, Math and Science
Cameron Wilkinson teaches sixth grade at Quartz Hill Elementary. This is his third year of teaching. He started teaching sixth grade at the school, taught fifth grade last year, and now is back in the sixth-grade classroom.
Wilkinson says he enjoys teaching sixth grade because the students are more mature. “It’s fun to have conversations with them,” he explains. But he does note that it’s hard to keep current on sixth grade slang!
Wilkinson’s family moved to Chandler from Wyoming when he was in first grade. He says it was a bit of a culture shock, but he settled into life in the Valley.
“I got my first job working with kids at an afterschool program,” says Wilkinson. He says he has always gravitated toward working with kids, and he still enjoys working in youth programs during school breaks. As a general classroom teacher, Wilkinson teaches all subjects.
“It’s kind of crazy, my worst subject as a kids was math,” says Wilkinson. “Now my favorite subject to teach is math.” He says he has always loved science, too. “Getting to do labs and hands-on activities is fun for me,” he explains.
Wilkinson was nominated by student Ezra, who writes, “I think Mr. Wilkinson is great because he is kind and calm. I can tell…he likes being a teacher.”
When he is not at school, Wilkinson enjoys playing and watching sports. He plays basketball on the weekends and says his fiancée and her family have gotten him involved in drag racing. Wilkinson just got engaged in January. He explains that his fiancée’s family has been involved in racing for a long time and that sparked his interest.
Wilkinson and his future wife hope to hike to a waterfall together and plan to visit more museums in the coming year, he says. One of his resolutions this year is to “get out and do more things.”
His advice to students is to “keep on trying when it gets hard, keep perservering.” “Keep getting up when someone knocks you down, because there will always be someone who tries to knock you down,” says Wilkinson.
