It’s not uncommon for teachers, after earning their bachelor’s degree, to move on and obtain a masters, but it often ends there. Teachers already have to obtain Act 48 credits to extend their professional learning, and for many that is enough.

But that’s not the case for Dr. Travis Martin, B-A’s earth and space science teacher.

Dr. Martin graduated from Bellwood-Antis High School in 2000 and  then went to Penn State to get his Bachelors in 2004. Three years later he acquired his master’s, again from Penn state.

Fast forward 17 years later, and Dr. Martin  obtained his doctorate from Arizona State. He’s actually one of two teachers on staff at B-A who have earned a doctorate degree, along with Dr. Alice Flarend, also a member of the science department.

He has now been a public school teacher for almost twenty years, including stops at Altoona, Huntingdon, Bellefonte, and now Bellwood.

Strangely enough, Dr. Martin hasn’t always wanted to be a teacher.

“If you asked me in high school if I wanted to be a teacher, I would have thought that was crazy,” he said.

Dr. Martin said he slowly developed the urge to teach as an undergrad after his first choice of major lost its luster.

“I made the leap after my 1st year in optometry school,” Dr. Martin says.

There are many things that can be enjoyable in teaching, but Dr. martin said his favorite is struggling through problems and questions with the students.

“Finding the solution usually means asking the correct questions. We deal with uncertainty together, and work towards discovery,” Dr. Martin said.

Even when not teaching in the classroom, Dr. Martin is still instructing as the head junior high football coach and a scholastic scrimmage advisor. When those tasks are complete, he likes to spend time at home.

“I like to hang out with my family, read or listen to audio books, watch nerdy documentaries,” Dr. Martin says.