On Wednesday, October 1, at 9:09 am, 17 students received a daunting email that switched them out of Mr. Gomaa’s beloved AP Environmental Science (APES) class into Mr. Farmer’s class.
“When I first found out, I was so upset. I didn’t want to switch out of my class after classes had begun,” said senior Andres Rodriguez. We, along with many others, felt the same way, feeling unsure of the upcoming year. However, the second we stepped into his classroom, Mr. Farmer’s warm and energetic energy surrounded us and has quickly become our favorite.
We got to know Mr. Farmer pretty quickly through weekend recaps and stories about past birds we had.
We learned that Mr. Farmer was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to a town in Northwest Florida called Santa Rosa Beach for middle school.
He attended the New York University School of Engineering, studying chemical and biological engineering, but after two years, transferred to Florida Gulf Coast State College for a year to get his associate’s degree.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at the time,” Farmer said, which prompted him to transfer to American University for two years to get a bachelor’s degree in biology. After completing his bachelor’s, he spent two more years earning a master’s in biology, doing research on the macroinvertebrate diversity and food webs.
As an undergraduate student and while he was getting his masters, he TA’d Biology 100, 200 and Cell Biology, enjoying it significantly.
“It was a lot of fun being able to do a lecture as well as work on the experiments, and guide everyone through the instructions in the laboratory,” Farmer said, expressing his initial love for teaching and describing the influence this had on his future.
Farmer managed a university research portfolio that was over $100 million. President Donald Trump canceled grants and was reviewing contracts, sparking Farmer to search for something new. He realized teaching high school science felt like the perfect choice. “It was a good transition, a good stepping stone,” he said.
While Farmer loves to teach, it’s not the only thing he enjoys. “I like to garden. I have a community garden plot,” Farmer stated, which was fitting considering his name! You might catch him on weekends in Glover Park on a summer day, tending to fresh fruits and vegetables. Besides gardening, he loves doing woodworking projects like building small side tables.
As two Farmer fans, we wondered what his secret was to making his students feel so welcome, and he said that he just tries “to treat people as adults. Just treat people how they want to be treated.”
Farmer expressed his respect for all of his students. These qualities make up the incredible and fun teacher that we have grown to love. His final piece of advice for all high school students is “once you go to college, don’t skip class.” •
