With so many having lamented TV’s effect on education, it is perhaps ironic that the same medium will elevate the status of a quirky local science teacher to that of celebrity.
Later this month, a longtime South Portland resident and Gorham teacher, Bob Crowley, will appear on this fall’s season of CBS’s “Survivor.” Crowley recently took his survival skills, which a friend described as first rate, to the jungle of Gabon in western Africa.
“If the show were just about survival alone, he’d be a hands-down winner. You give this man a chain saw on a deserted island and he would survive forever,” said Crowley’s longtime friend, John Caterina of Cape Elizabeth, who has spent some time hunting on the not-quite-deserted islands of lower Casco Bay.
Until his fate is aired, we won’t know whether his survival skills will make him a match for the political and physical skills of the other players, as they compete in athletic competitions and form alliances to vote one another off. And, Crowley’s skills in the wild – no matter how great – aren’t likely to make this elaborately constructed, prime-time soap opera worthy of airing on the Discovery Channel, but it will at least elevate the status of an enthusiastic local teacher.
The momentary distraction it will cause at Gorham High School is well worth the focus it will bring to a teacher who understands the importance of getting kids excited about education and the importance a sense of adventure can play in learning. Other local teachers can harness a little bit of the energy generated by putting one of their own on such a popular show.
Those of us who have always wanted TV to be something more than mere entertainment can cross our fingers and hope Crowley pulls off the ultimate upset – proving that something of educational value (perhaps a physics lesson or two?) can draw the same kind of ratings as bikini-clad bodies and back stabbing.
Congratulations, Mrs. Noyes
Another local teacher is getting some well-deserved attention this week. Gloria Noyes, a fifth-grade teacher at Congin School, received the state’s 2009 Teacher of the Year Award Wednesday morning.
Noyes accepted the award tearfully in a gymnasium at her school, packed with students, colleagues, friends and family and state and local education officials. Receiving the award is a great compliment to Noyes’ teaching skills, but it is also a great credit to the Westbrook school system, which has had four teachers win the award in the last 10 years. It has also been home to Noyes for the last 16 years.
Noyes was humble in her acceptance of the award, saying it was for Westbrook and for all teachers, but it’s clear she is well liked by her students and fellow teachers. Based on the way she talks about one of her former teachers, Roberta Dutton Morrill, and the way her students talk about her, it’s also clear that she cares about what she does and each of her students.
And that’s something worth honoring.
Brendan Moran, editor
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