Kathleen DiSanto

Kathleen DiSanto ’03

Upper School science teacher

Washington University in St. Louis, B.S.

Harvard University, M.S.

When you ask Upper School physics teacher Kathleen DiSanto why she loves physics, she answers the question with more questions.

“Why can you walk out of the room?” DiSanto asked. “Why was the door designed the way that it is? Why do surfaces feel differently? Why do things behave the way they behave? Physics explains why you can do what you can do as a human. By understanding the underlying mechanics, you can appreciate just how wondrous and beautiful the world is.”

Students at KO study Newtonian mechanics, so they learn various ways of approaching the same problem, all producing the same answer. “I love that no matter the perspective, you will get to the same destination,” Disanto said.

DiSanto wants her students up and moving in her class and practicing their learning precisely. In one lesson on examining forces, the students design car bumpers for imaginary people who love speed but not the restriction of seatbelts. To reduce the number of casualties, the students create tiny bumpers with paper and tape and bring their cars to the ‘test facility.’ “The students take the impact force that usually starts around 30 newtons and try to get it under one,” DiSanto said. “It’s a momentum lesson on increasing impact time, so your impact force goes down.” The students plot their results and see the immediate results of what they’re doing, making the abstract tangible.

Although DiSanto values learning physics content, she is equally passionate about her students respecting the learning process. That means in many of her classes, the students work in small groups, communicating with one another, sharing their learning, and being vulnerable when asking questions. “I think the only way you can do and learn hard things is if you’re in a safe, supportive community,” she said. “What I wish for is for each student to leave my class and see the value of contributing to a respectful environment because that’s going to serve them no matter what they do.”

DiSanto spends an extraordinary amount of time prepping various resources to ensure all her students have what they need to succeed in her class. There are colorful, written-out solutions to everything the students do, as well as packets of quizzes, homework, and charts. She has a YouTube channel with videos of her reviewing problems or introducing a unit. “I want the students to feel supported even when I’m not there.”

Even though DiSanto worked as an engineer at Pratt and Whitney on the heat shield for the Orion shuttle mission before her teaching career, she is still impressed with the sheer brilliance of some of her students; she enjoys a reciprocal relationship with them, where they can explain some material to her. “When a student just sees the solution, I want them to explain it back to me so I can see it another way. It’s so awesome. Some of these kids are just so, so bright.”

Favorite hobby: working out, story-driven video games

Favorite food: anything with chocolate

Favorite film: anything with Audrey Hepburn

Favorite music: Casey Musgraves