Instructors: Dr. Jack Kernion and Mr. Mark Kernion

Honors Physics is a full-year high school level course team-taught by two veteran teachers, Jack and Mark Kernion, both of whom have Pennsylvania teaching certification in physics and chemistry. The course designed to introduce students to the fundamental conceptual, mathematical, and lab skills needed to prove proficiency in physics and to move on to higher level courses. There are two live zoom sessions per unit (Scheduled on Mondays at 1:30 pm, ET). The course has 10 units. Units 1-4 establish foundational concepts including scientific methods, motion analysis, and force analysis. Units 5-7 advance to more complex mechanical systems, covering two-dimensional motion, energy, and momentum. The final units (8-10) explore waves, sound, light, and electricity, including both electrostatics and circuit analysis. The course is conducted through Physics Prep, an online education platform specializing in high school physics. Each unit of the course contains a "workflow" that guides the student through the material found on the unit assessments. The workflow is a combination of video lectures, lab activities, practice problems with complete solutions, quizzes, and a unit test. A course syllabus can be downloaded here.

Who should apply: These courses are open to students in grades 9 to 12 (or accelerated younger students) who have successfully completed algebra 1. Students follow pacing guides every day and have deadlines for assignments that will be handed in. It is expected that students will spend between 6 and 8 hours per week watching lectures, practicing problems, performing lab activities, and taking assessments. 

Course fee:
Honors Physics Tuition: $775

Textbook: OpenStax, "High School Physics” (Rice University, 2024)
This text can be downloaded for free or used online without being downloaded. Click here to view or download this text.

Lab Materials: Most materials can be found in a typical household. Hard to find items can be purchased in kit form at www.myscience-prep.com

Schedule: The course begins in August 31, 2026. The course ends on May 8, 2027. Each unit has two live sessions. The first live zoom in the unit will introduce the students to the topics covered in that unit and the second will review all the unit topics with the students prior to the unit test. The sessions will be recorded for students who cannot attend. 

Technical requirements: All students must have high-speed internet access, a scientific calculator, a device used to scan documents in .pdf format, and an email address (Gmail preferred, as google groups are used for the discussion forum).

Course Resources: This course has three components:
1. Online learning based on self-study using the course website. Pacing guides are provided that identify course assignments on a daily basis. The suggested due dates for the assessments are found in the pacing guides. Deadlines for work in each unit will be provided as well.
2. A discussion forum where students can ask questions of the instructor and others in the same course.
3. Two live video sessions are scheduled in every unit. They occur on Mondays at 1:30 pm (US Eastern Time). The sessions last one hour. Student attendance is optional but highly recommended. During the live sessions the instructor will preview and review work from the unit and be available to answer questions. The live sessions are recorded (and posted on the Physics Prep website) for viewing at a later time. The multiple choice sections of the quizzes and summative test found in each unit will scored by the computer and be used to determine student grades. Each test will also contain free-response questions (self-graded by the student based upon a scoring rubric). The free-response work done by the student willthen  be scanned and electronically submitted to the instructor for evaluation. Lab reports are handled in the same manner. A course schedule (with pacing guides, deadline dates, text readings, and suggested text-based practice problems) will be sent to the student in the summer prior to the start of the course. All registered students will have access to a student dashboard where important course information, an online grade book, an assignment submission upload form, and live session recordings can be found.

Instructor qualifications: Dr. Jack Kernion is a veteran AP Physics teacher who has been guiding talented students for over 30 years. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Ceramic Science and Engineering at Penn State and began his career as a research engineer for US Steel. After taking science education courses at the University of Pittsburgh to gain secondary education certification in Physics and Chemistry, he began his teaching career in 1986. Dr. Kernion has also earned a Master of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Duquesne University and Doctor of Education degree in STEM Education at the University of Pittsburgh. His dissertation topic was Scientific Argumentation in an Online AP Physics 1 Course. He has also served as the science department chair for the North Allegheny School District (one of Pennsylvania's most highly rated districts) for much of his teaching career, with a focus on curricular design and teacher training. In 2013, he was named an Educator of Distinction by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. One of the most important aspects of Dr. Kernion's teaching is his emphasis on methodology and conceptual development over memorization. His students learn the "Big Ideas," which he has been presenting for years, long before it was the latest trend in high school education. His courses emphasize this long-term learning method. Consequently, any student, regardless of his or her learning style, can easily plug into the flow of the course and gain a deep understanding of the material. This will be Dr. Kernion's tenth year with PA Homeschoolers. He is very excited to be a part of the faculty and to broaden his reach to the homeschool community. 

Mr. Mark Kernion has been teaching professionally since 1986. He graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. degree in Ceramic Science and Engineering in 1981. While at Penn State he won the Xerox Research Award for the most outstanding thesis in Material Sciences in his senior year. Following the attainment of his degree, he worked for 4 years as a Research Engineer for Harbison-Walker Refractories Co. developing materials for use in high-temperature industrial applications. He was awarded three U.S. patents for his work. During that time, he took education classes at the University of Pittsburgh attaining his Pennsylvania teaching certificate in Chemistry and Physics. He earned his Master’s degree in 2001 at Duquesne University in Liberal Studies, focusing on the history of science. In 1986 he began his public school teaching career with the Mt. Lebanon School District located near Pittsburgh, PA. He began teaching A.P. Chemistry in the 1998-1999 school year.  While teaching at Mt. Lebanon High School, he was honored with induction into the Cum Laude Society in 2006.  The Cum Laude Society is analogous to the Phi Beta Kappa Society but at the secondary level as opposed to the university level.  In 2007 he was given the Yale Educator Award which recognizes educators from around the world who have inspired and supported their students. He began teaching  through PA Homeschoolers in 2019 after retiring from his public school job, having taught for 33 years. He is the co-author of four books. One is Barron’s SAT Subject Test: Chemistry (a very popular test preparation book published by Barron’s Educational Series for the now-defunct SAT subject test in chemistry). The second is Chemistry the Easy Way (also published by Barron’s Educational Series) whose most recent 6^th edition was released in July 2019. The third, and more recently published, is Barron's Science 360: Chemistry (September 2021). The fourth, and most recently published, is Barron's Chemistry Practice Plus (July 2022).