Thomas Gallo

A solo picture of Thomas Gallo

Thomas Anthony Gallo is a veteran high school physics teacher and an avid enthusiast for science education. He currently works for The Steward School outside Richmond, Virginia, but spent a significant portion of his career teaching in in the Virginia public schools system - both in Henrico and Fairfax counties. He generally spends his summers working on various engineering and engineering education research topics, and maintains an interest in life-long learning.

Mr. Gallo is a graduate of James Madison University, where he received a Bachelor’s of Science in Physics. His passion for physics and engineering was developed at an early age, and a thorough study of theoretical physics was the next logical choice. However, once at Madison, Mr. Gallo became concurrently interested in mathematics, philosophy, and political science, and earned minor concentrations in each of these. While academics kept him busy, he spent much of his time mentoring younger students as part of various on-campus organizations and via his position of Resident Advisor. His willingness to share the virtues of a broad and well-rounded education is what originally attracted Mr. Gallo to the field of education and continues to serve him as a high school teacher. Mr. Gallo’s educative career has focused around being a role model for high school students, by reminding them to keep a sense of honor and wonder in their lives, and maintains the philosophy that hard work and self-reflection in the science classroom can be a way to prepare for a job in any field. For his efforts he has been recognized as a Fairfax County New Teacher of the Year, awarded a two-summer internship in MRI research at the National Institute of Mental Health, and invited to work with Virginia Commonwealth University's Bio-Medical Engineering Research Labs on head and eye-tracking systems.

Mr. Gallo’s enthusiasm for science education has always been significant, but within the past five years he has taken a more involved role in continuing education for elementary science teachers through Hampton University’s Physics Is Elementary (PIE) program, and as a Science Overdrive Instructor. Mr. Gallo continues to believe that well-trained science teachers are the key to student engagement and scientific curiosity. He looks forward to his future in the field of student and continuing teacher education and is eager to help others develop the same passion for science instruction.

Thomas Gallo can be contacted via email at tom@scienceoverdrive.org