May 14,
2007
First annual Singer awards pay tribute to high school
heroes
In Mike Haugh’s English literature class, he
teaches far more than the classics.
“The hero in today’s society has suffered
a dismal fate,” he says, recapping one of his many lessons.
“This part of the class is helping (students) to cope with this
transition. It’s a way of developing a philosophy to live. Having an
approach. Not letting life pass you by.”
For Haugh (pronounced Hawk) it’s just as
important for his students to learn lessons about life as it is for them to
appreciate the works of Edgar Allen Poe or James Joyce. In the 18 years he
has been teaching for the Aquinas Institute, Haugh has found a way to
infuse his courses with the kind of insights that his students can take
with them into their adult lives. For graduating senior Salvatore Amato
’07, Haugh’s approach has had a lasting impact.
“All the teachers at Aquinas were great, but he
always stuck in my mind because you could tell he really believed in what
he was teaching,” Amato says.
Those inspirational lessons are why Amato decided to
nominate Haugh for the College’s new Singer Prize for Excellence in
Secondary School Teaching, funded by Paul Singer ’66 and initiated
this year. Graduating seniors were invited to nominate a high school
teacher whose impact on their lives has been enduring. The nominations were
reviewed by a committee and winnowed to a list of four winners.
Haugh, who is retiring from Aquinas after more than 30
years of teaching, says that while many students feel gratitude to teachers
and mentors, “what’s rare is that (Salvatore) didn’t just
feel it, he took the time to do something about it.”
Other winners this year are Elizabeth O’Hara
from Westhill High in Syracuse, Jason Byrd from Nathan Hale High in Tulsa,
Okla., and John McLaughlin from Souderton Area High School in Souderton,
Penn.
“This group of teachers went above and beyond
the expectations of a traditional educator. They have affected our students
in ways that have shaped their lives as young adults and will continue to
have a place in their lives for years to come,” says Richard Feldman,
Dean of the College.
Byrd, one of the most requested calculus teachers at
Nathan Hale, is able to reach his students despite being surrounded by a
community struggling with poverty-related challenges, says Principal Chris
Johnson, in a letter of recommendation.
McLaughlin, an English teacher known for his unique
and adventurous teaching approaches, lives by the lesson that all people
must be critical learners, open to new ideas but skeptical of everything.
O’Hara ’72, a French teacher with 35 years
of teaching experience and a University alumnus, uses layers of technology
in the classroom as a way to motivate and capture students’
attention. O’Hara was nominated by graduating senior Sasha Bilow
’07, who will be teaching English in France as a Fulbright Scholar in
the fall and will has also been accepted into the Teach for America
program.
“She’s a very energetic teacher. The way
she teaches allows most students to rise to the challenge,” Bilow
says. “She taught me that if you want your students to be excited
about what you’re doing, you have to be thrilled about it,
too.”
All four recipients will be honored at a newly
instituted awards ceremony during Commencement weekend on Saturday, May 19,
in Hoyt Hall at 3:30 p.m. Each will travel here as a guest of the
College and receive a $3,000 award. The schools where each of the
winners teach also will receive a $2,500 award.
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