Allen Community College welcomed a new teacher to the staff, Dr. Matthew Antonik, for the 2019-2020 school year. Teaching physics on campus in Iola, he keeps himself and his students busy.

Antonik decided to come teach at Allen because he saw a good fit for himself. He enjoyed the smaller class size environment in which to teach physics .

“Physics really needs to be taught in an environment where students can access the teacher and the instructor has the flexibility to adjust to the needs of the student,” Antonik said.

While many think that physics is a very complex subject, Antonik’s favorite thing to teach is thermodynamics.

He said, “It is such a broad topic that one would need several semesters to teach it all. Of course, there is usually only one semester, which means from semester to semester, I can choose all sorts of different topics and never teach the same class twice.”

Along with a selection of research positions, Dr. Antonik has previously served as an assistant professor at the University of Kansas, a visiting professor at Bethany College, and an assistant professor at William Woods University.

He received his bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from the State University of New York in Albany and then afterward proceeded to go to graduate school. Antonik then received his doctoral degree in physics from the University of Maine.

He enjoys teaching because he feels it is part of a story.

“Teaching is my way of participating in the story, in helping the students, the college, the town, and the country turn the page to the next chapter of the story,” Antonik explained.

Antonik has two children, one girl and one boy, both in middle school. He values them very much and made sure that Iola would be a good fit for them as well. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with them doing fun things.