After teaching at Lick for eight years, Physics teacher Eric Friedman will be departing the Lick-Wilmerding community.
This summer, Friedman will be moving to Colorado, where he grew up, with his family to be closer to home. His family has been planning the move over the past year.
Friedman will be remembered for his enthusiasm and eagerness for teaching students about the intricacies of physics. He also helped to bring two new classes to LWHS during the 2018-19 school year: Physics Honors: Astronomy and Aeronautics, and Physics Honors: Mechanics. Both are senior-only honors courses.
Over his 8 years at Lick-Wilmerding, Friedman taught courses in Biology and Physics. He was also a teacher involved in PPP education, an advisor, and the advisor of the Physics Club.
Friedman appreciated the “supportive environment” of Lick-Wilmerding and felt that it was fun and fulfilling to work among “great students and great colleagues” at the school.
Friedman received a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Duke University and has spread his love for physics to countless students throughout his time at LWHS. He was known for leading demonstrations in the courtyard, showing the transit of mercury in late 2019 and for a trip to Oregon for the total solar eclipse in 2017.
Thinking back to his past years as a faculty member, Friedman will miss “just being at school each day and seeing the eager looks on students’ faces who are ready and excited to learn.”
Friedman was a favorite teacher of many students and has had a waitlist in recent years for college recommendations. Many students will miss him dearly.
“He goes above and beyond […] he’s not just a teacher, but also a friend or a support,” says Meghan Rydel ’20, a student in Friedman’s Astronomy and Aeronautics class. “He was really able to read the class and if people are having a down day, he’ll say ‘Hey guys, let’s go outside, let’s get some fresh air,’ so I feel like he really tailors his teaching to the students’ needs,” Rydel said.
In his classes, Friedman often instructed through labs. He has conducted a demonstration of refraction with a fish tank and lasers and taught acceleration and velocity through Hot-Wheels car tracks.
Friedman was also known for his competitions in class. In a first-year physics class, he held a competition to create a car powered by a falling weight attached to the vehicle. The winners of the competition received Oreos for their victory.
“He’s the type of teacher to stop in the caf to have a conversation with you and ask you how you’re doing,” said Rydel, “it really seems like he cares, rather than asking for the sake of asking. And that’s kind of special.” Students wish him the best as he moves back to Colorado.
Rydel had parting words for Friedman: “I hope that he stays as invested in teaching and interacting with the student body as he has at Lick and I hope that he teaches at a school that cares as much about him and his teaching as students at Lick does because he deserves that.”
