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WILKES-BARRE — Coughlin High School may be poised to tumble down, but its successful Advanced Placement Calculus class keeps soaring. A seven-person crew showed up Tuesday morning to shoot video of students doing their math and teacher Gerald Gillis doing his thing.

“I had to write a script. That was the tough part, writing out verbatim what you were going to say,” Gillis said the day after a crew had filmed footage for an online training video. “I’m not a movie producer. I never know what I’m going to say to get an idea across to the students.”

Gillis had already nabbed some publicity when all his students had managed to score a perfect five on the AP calculus test four years in a row. That streak ended last year when one student scored a four. He has also graded tests for the College Board and helped with live training.

But this was his first time in front of a camera, and in front of a teleprompter used to make sure he stuck to a script. “They filmed me talking into the camera on six different components being covered. I described the errors students make,” Gillis said.

“Reading off a teleprompter is hard,” he added. He had no real time between final revision of the script and the filming, and the teleprompter did not show the ends of longer sentences as he read. “Not seeing the whole sentence, I didn’t know when to inflect my voice.”

There were no casting calls; real students were used in the classroom segment. And there were no CGI effects to make the aging classroom look better — Coughlin students have joked it’s the only school where you can sit at your grandparent’s desk.

The fact that the video was shot in a school half shuttered and destined for the wrecking ball may have been a bonus, Gillis speculated.

“I think that’s part of what the College Board wanted. They are trying to send a message that you don’t need the newest technology or a new school to bring about good results.”

The video is intended only for other AP calculus teachers, so he doubts there’s any chance it will land on YouTube, go viral and make him or his students stars. And, no, writing a script for a training video didn’t inspire him to get that fictional movie idea he’s always had on paper.

Being a teacher who loves his work, the script writing was an inspiration for what he already does.

“I think I learned how to use strategies better in my classroom,” Gillis said. “Writing the script showed that just because you have a strategy doesn’t mean you get to the root of a student’s problem. You have to make sure you understand what the issue is, and that the strategy is addressing that issue.”

A star is born? Coughlin High School Advanced Placement calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed Tuesday teaching his class. The footage will be part of an online training video for other teachers being produced by the College Board, which administers AP courses.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816gillis1.jpg.optimal.jpgA star is born? Coughlin High School Advanced Placement calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed Tuesday teaching his class. The footage will be part of an online training video for other teachers being produced by the College Board, which administers AP courses. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Advance math takes center stage as a crew came shoots footage of Coughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis on Tuesday
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816gillis2.jpg.optimal.jpgAdvance math takes center stage as a crew came shoots footage of Coughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis on Tuesday Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Coughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed teaching his class on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816gillis3.jpg.optimal.jpgCoughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed teaching his class on Tuesday morning. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

A star is born? Coughlin High School Advanced Placement calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed Tuesday teaching his class. The footage will be part of an online training video for other teachers being produced by the College Board, which administers AP courses.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816gillis1-cmyk.jpg.optimal.jpgA star is born? Coughlin High School Advanced Placement calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed Tuesday teaching his class. The footage will be part of an online training video for other teachers being produced by the College Board, which administers AP courses. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Advance math takes center stage as a crew came shoots footage of Coughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis on Tuesday
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816gillis2-cmyk.jpg.optimal.jpgAdvance math takes center stage as a crew came shoots footage of Coughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis on Tuesday Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Coughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed teaching his class on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816gillis3-cmyk.jpg.optimal.jpgCoughlin High School AP calculus teacher Gerald Gillis is filmed teaching his class on Tuesday morning. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader
Coughlin teacher stars in AP calculus training film

By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish.