About Me:
This is a picture of me accepting my presidential doctoral scholarship on 10/20/2013 at a University of Illinois Graduate Awards Ceremony (I am pictured with the College of Education Dean and my younger brother Barry, who is currently serving in the United States Army)
Welcome to my webpage!
I am a 7th year science & mathematics teacher at Wilmington High School, and I'm in the process of finishing my doctoral degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I am a Wilmington High School graduate myself (1997-2001), and I'm proud to have lived the majority of my life as a member of this community.
Along with my anticipated doctoral degree from UIUC, I have two bachelors degrees and a masters degree. I earned my first bachelors degree from McKendree University (2001-2006), where I majored in Chemistry/Biochemistry and was a four-year starter on my college football team. I earned college football All-American honors and All-Conference Academic honors by my junior season, and I was named a team captain my senior season. My second bachelors degree was from Governors State University (2006-2007), where I studied secondary chemistry/physics/mathematics education. Immediately following the completion of my second bachelors degree, I was hired by Wilmington High School to teach physics and mathematics (2007). In 2009, I decided to begin working on my masters degree at Olivet Nazarene University (2009-2011) while simultaneously teaching science and mathematics at WHS. I proudly graduated with a 4.0 GPA from my masters program, and during that same time frame I was honored to be featured on WGN-TV as the "Teacher of the Month" (December, 2009). In 2012, I was accepted into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate school--one of the world's top graduate colleges--to earn a doctorate degree in Math, Science, & Technology Education (MSTE). I spent the 2012-2013 academic year researching within the UIUC physics and education departments, completing my required doctoral coursework, and contributing to a wide variety of science education outreach programs through the University. In the spring of 2013, with almost all of my doctoral coursework and obligations completed, things came full-circle when I re-applied at Wilmington High School for a science teaching position. At this stage of my professional career, and in the twilight of my own academic pursuits, words can't begin to describe a) how proud I am to be back in our community as a teacher, and b) how honored I am to have the opportunity to teach the students of our school district.
Aside from academia, I'm an avid sports fan, a weightlifting enthusiast, a (bad) golfer, a "semi-skilled" guitar player and songwriter (if you're lucky, maybe I'll perform a song or two for the class!), a dreadfully awful singer (someone with a good voice might need to sing if I perform a song!!), an animal lover, an outspoken science education advocate, and a self-proclaimed science geek. In my free time, I enjoy hanging out with my friends, going to Chicago, reading current science journals and articles, working out, devising and performing science experiments, and working on my doctoral dissertation.
I am a 7th year science & mathematics teacher at Wilmington High School, and I'm in the process of finishing my doctoral degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I am a Wilmington High School graduate myself (1997-2001), and I'm proud to have lived the majority of my life as a member of this community.
Along with my anticipated doctoral degree from UIUC, I have two bachelors degrees and a masters degree. I earned my first bachelors degree from McKendree University (2001-2006), where I majored in Chemistry/Biochemistry and was a four-year starter on my college football team. I earned college football All-American honors and All-Conference Academic honors by my junior season, and I was named a team captain my senior season. My second bachelors degree was from Governors State University (2006-2007), where I studied secondary chemistry/physics/mathematics education. Immediately following the completion of my second bachelors degree, I was hired by Wilmington High School to teach physics and mathematics (2007). In 2009, I decided to begin working on my masters degree at Olivet Nazarene University (2009-2011) while simultaneously teaching science and mathematics at WHS. I proudly graduated with a 4.0 GPA from my masters program, and during that same time frame I was honored to be featured on WGN-TV as the "Teacher of the Month" (December, 2009). In 2012, I was accepted into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate school--one of the world's top graduate colleges--to earn a doctorate degree in Math, Science, & Technology Education (MSTE). I spent the 2012-2013 academic year researching within the UIUC physics and education departments, completing my required doctoral coursework, and contributing to a wide variety of science education outreach programs through the University. In the spring of 2013, with almost all of my doctoral coursework and obligations completed, things came full-circle when I re-applied at Wilmington High School for a science teaching position. At this stage of my professional career, and in the twilight of my own academic pursuits, words can't begin to describe a) how proud I am to be back in our community as a teacher, and b) how honored I am to have the opportunity to teach the students of our school district.
Aside from academia, I'm an avid sports fan, a weightlifting enthusiast, a (bad) golfer, a "semi-skilled" guitar player and songwriter (if you're lucky, maybe I'll perform a song or two for the class!), a dreadfully awful singer (someone with a good voice might need to sing if I perform a song!!), an animal lover, an outspoken science education advocate, and a self-proclaimed science geek. In my free time, I enjoy hanging out with my friends, going to Chicago, reading current science journals and articles, working out, devising and performing science experiments, and working on my doctoral dissertation.
Contact Information
E-mail: ccunnings@wilmington.will.k12.il.us
Secondary E-mail: cunning7@illinois.edu
School telephone: (815) 926-1752
Twitter: @WHSCunnings
Secondary E-mail: cunning7@illinois.edu
School telephone: (815) 926-1752
Twitter: @WHSCunnings
