Mr. Murray Loves Science and Teaching

Despite growing up alongside white sand beaches and beautiful Caribbean sunsets, Elroy Murray found himself to be “bored” and ended up in Maryland.

After hearing about a vacant physics teaching position at Walls, Mr. Murray applied to join the School Without Walls faculty. Mr. Murray is very happy to be at Walls, and Walls is happy to have him.

In college, Mr. Murray followed a simple philosophy: “I love science.” To pursue his passion, he studied both biology and chemistry at Andrews University in Southwest Michigan.

Education is another passion of Mr. Murray’s. He started his D.M.V. teaching career in Prince George’s County, Maryland, until he had the opportunity to teach in the city. “I think [teaching] is in my blood,” he said. “My mom was a teacher, my sister has been a teacher — but I think it’s also that I like working with kids and I like science.”

Previously, Mr. Murray has had experience teaching both middle and high schoolers. He prefers teaching high school because the students have moved past the “transitioning” stage of adolescence. “I just love being able to reason with kids and I can only get that at [the high school] level,” he said.

In order to pursue his combined love for science and education, Mr. Murray has taken over teaching Physics and Earth Science this year. Having a passion for medicine akin to his passion for education, Mr. Murray loves teaching subjects that are near to his heart. As such, he is also teaching Anatomy, a new class at Walls.

So far, Mr. Murray has enjoyed his time at Walls and is enthusiastic about teaching here. “I love that the kids are motivated to learn … the freedom to choose the curriculum, pacing, everything,” he said, “I love it.”