Its a tall order not to be inundated with smiles and laughter during one of Philip Roskos classes at Lakeland Community College.

The 49-year veteran professor, who teaches chemistry, has been a fixture at the schools Kirtland campus for some 47 years and he is, in this reporters opinion, one of the most entertaining educators this side of Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Between his genuine affinity for chemistry; his edgy, and often comical approach to teaching and the respect he has not only for the field of education and Lakeland Community College, but also for his students and the professionals they will one day become, Roskos has cultivated the kind of educational environment that makes learning genuinely fun.

Just ask some of his students.

No matter what youre doing, career-wise, you have to take his chemistry class, said Paul Price, one of Roskos chemistry lab assistants, who said Roskos has left an indelible mark on his career path. Hes probably the biggest influence in the fact that Im getting into chemistry.

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Another lab assistant, Jamie Michaels, said Roskos passion for learning and for teaching makes him an incomparable educator.

Hes just so passionate about it, she said. And hes very selfless so humble. He would do anything for his students.

Bridgette Washburn, also one of Roskos lab assistants, said hes not the kind of teacher who looks to thin the herd, so to speak. Rather, she said, hes all about helping students prosper, no matter how they tend to learn.

Other than (teachers of) a lot of organic chemistry classes, at other colleges, hes not here to weed people out, she said. He wants us to succeed and he wants to help his students learn how they learn best.

And its that very success his students work so diligently under his tutelage to achieve that keeps the spry septuagenarian coming back for more.

Im 72 and Im still cookin! And I tell my students I say: You keep me young and Ill mature you. I will help you with your careers. I will help you mature. And they keep me young because they let me be silly.

And silly seems to work.

Just ask Price, who said he met Roskos before he even decided he wanted to get into chemistry, probably his first week on campus as a student.

Im just walking through the hallway and here comes this wild-eyed, crazy looking guy with an old-fashioned teapot thats got steam all coming out of it and he asks me: Hey would you like some tea? Price said, mimicking Roskos mad-scientist-esque countenance. So I said Sure, then he looked at me and smiled and said: You dont want any of whats in here. Its liquid nitrogen. Then he laughed and continued on down the hallway.

And thats classic Roskos, even by his own accounts.

I dont sit in my office. I dont, he said. I believe in managing by wandering around. So I wander around in the hallways and, I dont know... Sometimes I change my outfits during the day and, you know, put on a hat. We just do silly things.

He said that, for example, hell play his nonexistent brother with long hair, thanks to a cap he has with some locks sewn into it.

My name is Phil. And, sometimes, Ill come up with something like, well take a break, and Ill go back to my office and I have this hat with really long hair, because I dont have any hair... and Ill put on a jacket or something and Ill come back to class and Ill say: Phils busy and, and, uhhh, Im his brother, Bill. I got the hair. This is what keeps me going.

He said its the reliance he has on his students to learn and pass it on is another thing that keeps him going.

Hes taken that philosophy, along with his belief that Lakeland should have the most up-to-date, industry-standard tools and instruments, to such a sublime level that hes even got his students and lab assistants teaching others how to use the schools latest and greatest devices.

My plan is that I give my lab assistants and some of the students who have an interest the instructions and I say: Get the thing going, he said. And, when you get it going when you get the instrument doing what its supposed to do, you must show others.

He said thats the essence of education: To learn and pass it on.

I always want my students to be learners and teachers, he said. I want them to learn and then to pass it on. I mean, thats what humans do, isnt it?

He said it seems to do the trick, in terms of his students successes.

I mean, if you have young people, you gotta pass it on, he said. They have to learn how to pass it on. Its like a relay race. Thats my philosophy of learning by doing, then showing others your skills and passing them on. And it seems to have worked, at least according to my contact with past students.

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Lakeland Community College chemistry prof talks teaching, learning, outreach and results - News-Herald.com