SHHS Physics Teacher Presents to AAPT, Students Win Photo Contest

Sleepy Hollow High School (SHHS) Physics Teacher Leila Madani had the opportunity to not only attend the 2024 American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Summer Meeting but she was also an invited speaker. While there, Ms. Madani had the opportunity to network with her peers, meet influential physicists, and judge the AAPT annual photo contest, where six SHHS students were named in the Top 100. The meeting took place at The Westin Boston Waterfront from July 6 to 10 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ms. Madani joined approximately 1,000 Physics Educators from around the globe as she took part in various workshops based on physics education and the principles that AAPT represents. She joined Physics Teacher Mark Schober from Trinity School in New York City as they presented to fellow educators on “Incorporating the high school photo contest into your classroom.”

“I had a great time at the event. I liked geeking it out with everyone else, and I got to meet and take a photo with Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova, Physics professor at Texas A&M University. She’s known on TikTok for her physics demos that the majority of my students have seen,” said Ms. Madani. “My new goal is to take pictures with as many famous physicists as possible.”

Ms. Madani credits her foray into physics photography to fellow educator Kerrie Sansky, Speech and Language Teacher at W.L. Morse Elementary.

“She helped me develop the initial project, called the Physics in Focus Project. She also coordinated the logistics of having my AP students present their photos and essays to the first graders at Morse. She even helped get the photos displayed at various local businesses during the first few years of the project. She was instrumental in bringing the student work out of the classroom,” said Ms. Madani.

During their third marking period in March, Ms. Madani’s AP Physics 2 students are given a choice for their quarterly project: they can either write a letter to a public servant regarding a pressing physics issue or they can take a photo for the Physics in Focus Project.

“SHHS Principal Dr. Deborah Brand feels very strongly that students should have opportunities for choice in the assessments that they take. So, a few years ago I decided to make my AP students’ third marking period project a “choice project,” said Ms. Madani. “Surprisingly, more students this year chose to write the letter, but we still had many strong photos and essays from the Photo Project. Despite the smaller pool of photos for submissions, I still felt confident that we could at least have several of our students make the Top 100 of the AAPT contest.”

In May, thirteen students from Ms. Madani’s class submitted their artwork and accompanying essays into the photo contest. Gerald Navarro from the class of 2024 made it into the Top 100 for “Physics of water bending” along with five students from the class of 2025. Kamile Contreras for “The Convex Cup,” Gabriella Eaddy for “Fishy Refraction,” Dexter Hargreaves for “La Araña Discoteca,” Zoheila Rodriguez for “Sick Sparks,” and Christopher Quizhpi Vazquez for “Explaining the function of Fidget Spinners. Featuring Torque and Friction.”

In total, the contest received 404 submissions from more than 140 schools. The top photos and essays were then displayed at the AAPT Summer Meeting in Boston, MA, where hundreds of physics teachers and professors voted on their favorite ones.

“I saw teachers and professors going through every photo which was impressive. I did not have the motivation to read and judge every single photo-essay. I focused on whether or not a photo initially captured my attention. For those that did, I read their photo-essays to see if they went into great depth to explain the physics concepts. There were some photos that were absolutely fantastic and their essays actually taught me something new,” said Ms. Madani. “What I like about the contest is that it gives teachers a peek into how students are processing physics in their daily lives. It also gives students a different way to show their understanding of physics, beyond solving word problems. This is why the A in STEAM is so important.”

SHHS rising senior Kamile Contreras received second place in the Contrived category and an Honorable Mention in the Metacognitive Discussion category for her photo titled “The Convex Cup.”

“Originally, my goal was to create a rainbow by shining light from my flashlight through water. But while I was trying to take a picture, something unexpected happened. Instead of spreading out, the light focused into a thin line on the other side of the cup,” wrote Kamile. “The cup, filled with water, acts like a convex lens. This lens causes the light to bend as it passes through, resulting in the formation of the candle-like shape on the other side.

“This experiment was both fun and unexpected, showing me that light can do some really cool things,” added Kamile.

View Kamile Contreras’ winning photo and essay here: The Convex Cup

View all winners here: 2024 High School Physics Photo Contest Gallery