© 2026 ABC News

\"I honestly never really post on Twitter and if I do I get two or three likes,\" said Church, 18, who emailed Wright to let him know he'd gone viral. \"The fact that it has eight million views is really mind-blowing to me.\"

\"I really think that it shows that if you love what you do it’ll radiate to other people,\" she said. \"And that learning doesn’t have to be boring and hard and if you make it more interesting then students will be more engaged and learn more.\"

Church said she took the Elements of Physics class with her best friend Kierra Brothers after reading good reviews of Wright's class. The friends took videos of Wright's experiments throughout the semester because they couldn't believe all he was doing to make sure they learned about physics.

So I just emailed him letting him know he’s gone viral😭 we’ll see what he says. pic.twitter.com/AL8q1HuLL0

— Erica✨ (@its_riccaa) December 12, 2019

\"The first class, he ended the class by walking on a bed of broken glass and I knew from that moment he was going to be an amazing professor,\" Church said. \"He's made physics more practical so it means more to you than a whole bunch of words on a PowerPoint that you have to memorize for a test.\"

Wright said the students in his physics classes are typically taking the class as a prerequisite -- meaning they are not physics majors -- so he wants to make sure they understand and can apply physics concepts.

To teach them about one of Newton's Laws of Motion, he rolls a 16-pound bowling ball down the hallway to show that an object in motion stays in motion. To teach about convection, he takes the class outside and starts a fire.

\"PHOTO:
Erica Church/Twitter
PHOTO: Professor David Wright performs an experiment in a physics class at Tidewater Community College in Virginia.
>

\"I figure if I’m not having fun teaching the course they’re not going to have any fun either,\" Wright said of his students. \"You should be really passionate in what you’re doing and I hope I serve as an example of that.\"

Wright, named Tidewater Community College's professor of the year in 2017, was described by a college spokesperson as getting \"more passionate and energetic with the years.\"

\"Dr. Wright’s teaching philosophy grew out of his experience in a high school physics class, where the textbook was by an author named Dull and his teacher, though knowledgeable, was equally dry,\" the spokesperson told \"GMA.\" Obviously, he’s anything but, and we’re proud he is here to serve our students.\"

Both Wright and Church said they also hope the number of people watching the video of Wright's experiments puts a positive spotlight on community colleges, their professors and students.

\"The best education does not have to come from a four-year university and I think it’s really important for people to see that,\" said Church. \"I want Dr. Wright to get the attention he deserves because he is an amazing professor.\"

\"We have amazing students here who are very sharp, very engaged in what’s going on,\" said Wright. \"They really energize me.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/69-year-physics-professors-extra-demonstrations-class-won/story?id=67685639","legacySlug":"/living/story/69-year-physics-professors-extra-demonstrations-class-won-67685639","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"19:12","publishDate":"12-12-2019","updatedTime":"00:36","updatedDate":"12-14-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"Professor David Wright performs an experiment in a physics class at Tidewater Community College in Virginia.","credit":"Erica Church/Twitter","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/dr-wright-flt-aa-191212_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"12/12/2019 19:12:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":67685639,"headline":"Watch this physics professor go above and beyond","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Best physics professor ever_191212","description":"\"My job is to get kids excited about science and to give them confidence.\"","duration":"1:15","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/12/191213_wnn_norman_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["67642316","66760990","63323157"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"December 11, 2019","headline":"Students surprise teacher fighting cancer with Christmas carols on her front lawn","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/students-surprise-teacher-fighting-cancer-christmas-carols-front-67642316","id":67642316,"image":{"alt":"Students surprise teacher fighting cancer with Christmas carols on her front lawn","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/laurie-burpee-2-ht-aa-191211_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Courtesy Glen Erickson","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"November 6, 2019","headline":"3rd-grader offers teacher his birthday money to give her a raise","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/3rd-grader-offers-teacher-birthday-money-teachers-paid-66760990","id":66760990,"image":{"alt":"3rd-grader offers teacher his birthday money to give her a raise","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/3rd-grader-offers-teacher-money-ht-MAIN-np-191106_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Jen Williams ","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"May 28, 2019","headline":"Instead of a yearbook, this teacher had her whole kindergarten class sign her dress ","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/yearbook-teacher-kindergarten-class-sign-dress-63323157","id":63323157,"image":{"alt":"Instead of a yearbook, this teacher had her whole kindergarten class sign her dress ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/kinder-dress-split-ht-jc-190528_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Courtesy Ashley Hicks","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Watch this physics professor go above and beyond","description":"\"My job is to get kids excited about science and to give them confidence.\"","duration":"1:15","uploadDate":"12-12-2019","publication":"12-12-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/12/191213_wnn_norman_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/12/191213_wnn_norman_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/69-year-physics-professors-extra-demonstrations-class-won-67685639"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132231169","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132206748","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132200241","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131142257","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131046664","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131048076","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"Watch this physics professor go above and beyond","pubTime":"14:12","pubDate":"12-12-2019","modTime":"19:36","modDate":"12-13-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":67685639,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Watch this physics professor go above and beyond","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Best physics professor ever_191212","videoId":67685639,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/69-year-physics-professors-extra-demonstrations-class-won-67685639"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/67685639","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/67685639","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};