Get to know Mr. Pike: A pillar in the science department

It may surprise you that one of the AIS science teachers describes himself as having such a “terrible time in AP physics” in high school that he “wrote off science courses” and felt “lost”.

This teacher is Mr. Pike. He has taught biology since 2017 and joined the AIS faculty as a high school biology teacher in 2021. Before this, he taught high school chemistry and other university classes at different schools. His struggles with science as a high school student led him to seek advice from a teacher in 11th grade. His teacher pointed out that Mr. Pike had a talent for “explaining things and telling stories.” This led him to seek opportunities from some former teachers, and one of them gave Mr. Pike a chance to observe and then teach geography/history to middle school students. He then worked with another teacher in a gifted science class, and by the end of high school, Mr. Pike was ready to study biology at university. When he worried about not liking biology, his teacher/mentor told him not to worry: “life is about the journey, not the destination.”

Mr. Pike did well in college and graduated from Georgia College and State University, and from there, he began his teaching career. He combines his expertise with the talent for explaining topics and telling stories to AIS students, making biology interesting and rewarding.

Mr. Pike grew up in Georgia and has fond memories of the holidays as a child. With his mother from South Carolina and his father from Virginia, the holidays were spent on trips to see family in those two states. His best memory is the taste of homemade apple cider from his uncle. He enjoyed visiting family because that was one of the few times he would see his cousin. Another favorite memory of those trips was sitting together with a family and watching NASCAR on TV. Mr. Pike exclaimed, “I didn't even like Nascar very much!”

When he is not at AIS teaching students, Mr. Pike spends time at home with his cats and stays in touch with his fiancée, who lives outside of Atlanta. He goes to the gym in his free time, and as he describes, he may not “be great at it, but I certainly wouldn’t come in last!”