DID YOU KNOW?
Tacoma’s story spans more than two centuries from the time Captain George Vancouver anchored off Tacoma’s north shore in 1792.
In 1870, Tacoma’s natural deep-water port became an attraction that the Northern Pacific Railroad couldn’t pass up, when it made Tacoma a stop on its transcontinental line.
Old Tacoma and New Tacoma merged in 1884 and incorporated as Tacoma. By 1890, the population reached 36,000 people.
Tacoma is home to the Port of Tacoma, the seventh-largest container port in the United States, and it is within 20 miles of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and 36 miles of the city of Seattle.
Daniel Wicklund,
Upper School Physics
Daniel Wicklund teaches chemistry and physics in the Upper School. “Book knowledge is fine and good, but what I love the most is seeing that knowledge extended to application,” says Wicklund. “The realization that physics describes the real, actual world we live in is both a simple and a stunning one.”
One of Wicklund’s favorite projects is guiding students through the process of designing egg parachutes. “It’s fun for the students and it’s fun for me to see all that latent creativity come up to the surface in a way that incorporates the principles we’ve been studying in class.” He also enjoys giving students a task known as the Conservation of Momentum Lyric Poem Assignment.
Wicklund graduated from the University of Colorado. He joined the Charles Wright faculty in 2007. In addition to teaching, he sells Tarrier dogs, a very special breed of hot dog, at athletic events with the students’ Green Derby club.
One of his favorite moments at Charles Wright came in his first chemistry class of the morning. “A student came in just as class was starting,” he recalls. “He walked straight up to the front of the room with his untied necktie in hand. We started class a minute late while I helped him tie his tie.” On another occasion, Wicklund received a call from a student around 8pm on a Wednesday night: “Mr. Wicklund, sorry to call you at home, but it’s an emergency. I was wondering if you could bring in some Swiss yodeling music tomorrow?”
Wicklund enjoys traveling, particularly to Europe. He speaks some Czech, which he describes as his most interesting and generally useless skill. He lived and taught in Prague for a year and a half. He also enjoys the great outdoors, cooking and reading.
Visit his web page
One of Wicklund’s favorite projects is guiding students through the process of designing egg parachutes. “It’s fun for the students and it’s fun for me to see all that latent creativity come up to the surface in a way that incorporates the principles we’ve been studying in class.” He also enjoys giving students a task known as the Conservation of Momentum Lyric Poem Assignment.
Wicklund graduated from the University of Colorado. He joined the Charles Wright faculty in 2007. In addition to teaching, he sells Tarrier dogs, a very special breed of hot dog, at athletic events with the students’ Green Derby club.
One of his favorite moments at Charles Wright came in his first chemistry class of the morning. “A student came in just as class was starting,” he recalls. “He walked straight up to the front of the room with his untied necktie in hand. We started class a minute late while I helped him tie his tie.” On another occasion, Wicklund received a call from a student around 8pm on a Wednesday night: “Mr. Wicklund, sorry to call you at home, but it’s an emergency. I was wondering if you could bring in some Swiss yodeling music tomorrow?”
Wicklund enjoys traveling, particularly to Europe. He speaks some Czech, which he describes as his most interesting and generally useless skill. He lived and taught in Prague for a year and a half. He also enjoys the great outdoors, cooking and reading.
Visit his web page
