Fort High science teachers present ‘gag show’

In December of 2003, two Fort Atkinson High School teachers presented a fun physics and chemistry lesson to usher in the winter break.

Eighteen years later, they’ve got it down to a fine science.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, science students reported to the auditorium instead of their usual classroom for the 18th annual “Super Science Gag Show” in which their teachers took turns presenting “experiments” that reinforced a science concept such as Thermodynamics, Sound, Light, Electromagnetism, and so on. 

The show in its current form first was presented in 2003 by Chick Westby, Justin Frey and Nick Hamele, and has gone on nearly every year since. In the past, it was led by Westby and Frey. 

This year’s event brought together the entire department, with each teacher taking turns to lead a session and teach a science concept. 

“At the first show, it was just Justin and I. Nick was running (technical crew) down here and the other science staff would help back stage,” Westby said. “In recent years, we both have stepped back a little more to try to get the other science staff to have their time. That’s been so much fun.”

Westby said that the staff brainstorm experiments year-round to present at the show.

“As with any pet project, you’re thinking about it all year, and as it come closer to the date, then that energy ramps up,” he said. “I work best under pressure; it’s when my brain starts to go crazy.”
Some of the larger props are made a couple weeks before the shows so they are stage-ready.

Westby noted that he and Frey have done these demonstrations multiple times in their classrooms, so they are comfortable with how they are going to go.

“This year’s show was a little organic because …. we had four new people who had never done it before,” Westby said. “As for practicing, our dress rehearsal is our first show.”

A crowd-favorite experiment focusing on soundwaves was led by science teacher Kaitlin Ripley. PVC tubes of specific lengths were passed out to groups of students throughout the auditorium, and when students hit the end with their hands, they were able to create a specific note as the air resonated through the small tube. 

Ripley conducted each group of students to play their pipes to create a song complete with sheet music on the projector screen … to the tune of “Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town.” Students were seen laughing as nearly 150 PVC pipes resonating in order to create this holiday favorite. 

In addition to the on-stage demonstrations, a team of a dozen technical theater students from the school’s Theater Club came together to turn this into a large-scale audio-visual production. They operated the sound board with numerous microphones on each science teacher, four separate videocameras from different angles, the lighting board and multiple spotlights, all to create a professional-level live and recorded video experience. 

The cameras were streamed to the projection screen to allow students in the audience to get a much closer look at some of the smaller experiments taking place on stage. 

These Theater Club students were led by Performing Arts Managing Director John Collins and Associate Managing Director Katy Freye.

Another favorite “gag” featured science teacher and head football coach Nick Nelson lying on a bed of nails that were distributed across a large piece of wood with the points facing up. The teachers were able to demonstrate the concept of distribution of pressure across a surface. At one point, a sledge hammer was used to break a concrete block that had been placed on Nelson’s stomach. 

The teachers explained that many concepts of physics center around the principle of inertia, or an object’s tendency to remain at rest while at rest or in motion while in motion unless acted upon by outside forces.

The teachers involved in the gag show included Chick Westby, Aaron Kremsreiter, Nick Hamele, Kaitlin Ripley, Kyla Sinde, Nicholas Nelson, Brian Zachgo, Samantha Tres, Amy Kornowski and Justin Frey.

“We have eight science staff and two who help from the Special Ed Department,” Westby said. “They coach with us. And they’ve learned the ropes in our classrooms, learning the science as we go, and they’re just fantastic to have next to us in the room.”

Some “gags” were based on holiday traditions. The teachers used numerous visual aids and demonstrations to explain the things students had experienced each winter season. They used real-life demonstrations to illustrate concepts such as how Christmas lights work to exactly what creates the sounds students hear in holiday songs. 

As a part of the tradition, the end of the show featured a gag titled “Zoob Tubes.” During this demonstration, sound and light were created by introducing a lit match to a long plastic tube with a chemical inside. The ignited vapors from the chemical produced a small flame and a “whooshing” sound. 

The teachers used this demonstration to illustrate the effect of sound and light waves moving through the air.

“We had about 60 to 65 tricks and demonstrations available, but the set we did just now, with the exception of one or two, is where we ended up,” Westby said. “These are getting a little more response out of the students, and the story line works well as we transition from one demonstration to the next.”

They try to have one or two entirely new tricks” each year. This year’s featured a billiard ball pendulum.

In addition to the “live” show, the teachers present a video created by Hamele.

The first video was produced in 2005, and that tradition has continued annually ever since. This year’s showed the science staff “at home” in the high school.

“Nick worked ahead of time to get the video put together, and coordinated all the kids and staff, working with the different lights, sounds and mics,” Westby said.

“Part of this is teaching the kids how to do this,” he added, referring to the technical crew. “The first couple of shows were more directive, but by the time we got to this one (the sixth of eight), I just troubleshoot with them and here and there to remind them what to do. But for the most part, they’re pretty much running it themselves.”

As the show came to a close, Westby wished all the students a happy winter break.

“We love what we do; we hope that comes through each day in our classrooms,” he said. “You are making our day great just by coming through our doors.”

The teachers completed eight shows over two days, and while they are a lot of work, they say they are well worth it.”

“We see students that graduated in ’07, ’09, whatever, and often they will come back and say, ‘Are you still doing that?’” Westby said.

“Yes, we’ve got a lot of repeats that come back. They visit other teachers, but then also come down to the show,” Hamele agreed.

But the “Super Science Gag Show” is as memorable to the teachers as it is to the students. And Westby said that is because he works with such a great team.

“Every day, we’re coming here, we’ve got each other’s backs, I love these guys so much, seriously …,” he said. “We enjoy our department so much. We laugh together, we eat together as much as we can. We love being with each other each day.

“Coming to this place we call work has never been work.”

Watch the full show on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/aKAkh9lPhPk.