For Dr. Tom Arnold, life as a science teacher at State High for 35 years was, in one short phrase, “Very rewarding, extremely rewarding!”

Before his 2006 retirement, Arnold taught geology, meteorology, oceanography and astronomy honors courses. Known by his students as funny, engaging and an overall great instructor, Arnold recalls that he was an academically challenging teacher who demanded each student reach their maximum potential. No extra credit was given, to make up for work poorly done, though there was one exception.

In Arnold’s classroom, students received two points if they climbed in a barrel of water to determine the density of their weight, and one point if they helped clean up the water afterward.

The interesting activities only started there. Student summer science research trips were held in places such as Montana, Wyoming and even Norway; students were selected to participate prior to their senior year, and then research papers based on the trip were completed during their senior year and submitted to professional science societies. From 1994 to 2006, more than 50 of Arnold’s students were recognized by organizations such as the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Society.

Of Arnold’s well-performing students, it wasn’t uncommon for many to be young women, particularly during the years before the recent push for women in STEM. Arnold fondly recalls his interactions with them.

“They’d say, ‘I can’t do this,’ but I kept pushing them. They’re engineers now,” he recounts, saying he would often tell them, “In this world, you can’t be as good as a man, you have to be better.”

Over the years, he found the trust and confidence his students placed in him to be highly gratifying, and he developed lasting bonds with many.

These days, Arnold teaches online courses through the National Science Foundation and American Meteorological Society, and he enjoys his hobbies of woodworking and taking care of his many chickens, noting “I have more eggs than I know what to do with!”