Last year, Pennsylvania science teacher Susan Carty flew to Honolulu, boarded a scientific ship (photo, right) bound for Japan and Korea, and for 39 days helped conduct experiments on the role of aerosols in influencing the transfer of solar energy. Carty was one of 300 teachers who have gone on Teacher at Sea trips sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Once you put your feet on board and realize you can't get off, it's scary," says Carty, who has taught middle school science for 14 years in West Chester. "But this was a tremendous learning experience. I'm so thankful my district allowed me to do it. I came back feeling younger and amazed at my new outlook."

Why a teacher on board a high-tech ship with 30 professional scientists and other experts? "Teachers create connections scientists wouldn't otherwise understand," says John Kermond, communications director of NOAA's Office of Global Programs. "Teachers raise the level of awareness of academics. Scientists don't always know what the teachable moment is, like teachers do."

Carty notes that the scientists she worked with had difficulty relating to how teachers accomplish what they do. "They told me they'd have absolutely no idea how to teach 30 kids in a lab, and it felt good to be able to enlighten them," says Chester.
Dr. Kathleen Conn, West Chester's supervisor of Science and Technology Education, says, "We're proud of Susan. She made tremendous personal progress that will translate into real benefits for students."

Both Conn and Carty strongly argue the importance of teachers getting a mid-career break. Says Conn, "Teachers make the most of this time. It's not a frill. Sabbaticals for professional growth are times of renewal. Susan's an excellent example of how much a teacher can accomplish during a sabbatical."

For more about the Teacher at Sea program, check the NOAA Web sites at www.tas.noaa.gov/ or www.ogp.noaa.gov/index.htm. Schedules for all NOAA ships, as well as data and photos of Carty's experience, are posted.

56 Sets of Lesson Plans
At 82 years old, Ray Lawson prides himself on being just as sharp as when he began his education career--56 years ago. And with this kind of history, Lawson may be the longest-serving educator in Michigan.

More than 18,000 students have passed through his classes at Rochester High School since he entered teaching in 1946, just two months after returning from Army duty during World War II. His salary: $2,700 a year.

The former Michigan Education Association president says one of the keys to staying so happy in the profession has been his ability to connect with students as he grows older.

"One of my biggest passions is keeping up to date and providing intriguing lessons for each new class of 17-year-olds," says Lawson, who opens his classroom door before 6 a.m. every day to students who need help.

"I throw out the former year's lesson plans each year," Lawson adds. "I don't plan until after I've met my class and see who they are."

He also expects students to challenge him. "Together we'll find answers,'' he says. "It helps keep me on my toes.
"I know I'll retire when I stop giving all I have to give," Lawson says. "But so far, that day hasn't come. I still think of teaching as a new experience.''

Swimming with the Sharks
"South Africa is one of three places in the world where you go if you're serious about sharks," says Arizona science teacher Derrick Neill. And earlier this year, Neill got a chance to get serious.

The Arts & Entertainment (A&E) network presented Neill with an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa to dive with Great White sharks-- as well as an hour-long television show documenting his experience.

Neill was selected to appear in an October episode of a show called "Ultimate Reality," billed as a new kind of "reality" television. Neill was one of ten ordinary people chosen this year by the network to fulfill their lifelong goals on camera.
"I've been a certified scuba diver since I was 16 years old and obsessed with sharks since I first saw the movie Jaws," says the eighth grade teacher at Sierra Vista Middle School.

Filmed over two weeks in July in the waters off of Gansbaii, a small fishing village east of Cape Town, Neill spent endless hours underwater in a shark cage face-to-face with his life's passion.

"Probably the scariest moment was when I reached my hand out of the cage to touch one of the sharks and I saw another shark out of the corner of my eye swimming toward my arm," says Neill.

The 21-year teaching veteran is excited to share the documentary with his students during their unit in oceanography. "It's not a typical reality show, about trivial matters or my personal problems," Neill notes. "It's a show with hard facts about shark behavior." 4

He also says his once-in-a-lifetime experience can teach students a valuable lesson about self-esteem.
"Self-esteem comes from taking risks and overcoming challenges," he says. "When kids see someone they know, even their teacher, facing fears and overcoming them, it sends a strong message."

A Storyteller's Tale
NEA-Retired member Mozell Robinson didn't set out to be a teacher. But after she got to the classroom, she stayed for 38 years. Now she's into a whole new career as a storyteller.

Whether it's a kindergarten classroom, a senior citizen center, a college campus, or a historic plantation, each site is home for Robinson's mixture of traditional African-American folktales and personal stories.

"Every one of my stories conveys a message to the audience and a lesson about African-American culture," says Robinson. "I try to get my audience intimately involved with my characters through the use of props and costumes and a variety of voices for my characters.''

Robinson came to storytelling after a brief stint in acting. She was cast as a stand-in for Cicily Tyson and became hooked on performing. When curators for Historic Brattonsville, a 720-acre living village and Revolutionary War site, began looking for a storyteller to relate the experiences of plantation slaves, Robinson saw a chance not only to perform, but to educate.
Today, Robinson's brand of storytelling is in demand. "I think there's been a resurgence in storytelling because everyone is trying to get to the heart of their own history,'' Robinson notes. "When you listen to my tales, you develop a personal connection with history.''

Capturing a Century of Memories
When NEA member Richard Glaubman read in a Seattle paper about George Dawson, who was learning to read at age 98, he knew he just had to meet this man.

So Glaubman, an elementary physical education teacher, flew to Texas and went to the classroom where Dawson was learning to read.

"From that day, we became the best of friends,'' says Glaubman. Sometimes he stayed weeks at a time with Dawson, talking and learning about his past.

As Glaubman listened to Dawson talk about lynchings, hate crimes, and discrimination, he decided Dawson's story needed to be told.

"I was so intrigued by his testimonies of the history of our country and the history of race relations, that I wanted to create a book about his experiences," says Glaubman.

Each session, Glaubman and Dawson would sit and talk while their conversations were recorded.

"Here was a man who had a century of history in his memory.'' explains Glaubman. "What struck me was that he had no regrets or bitterness about the past, and for the three years I knew him, he never judged anyone. He always did the best with what he could," Glaubman recalls.

Glaubman initially thought about creating an illustrated children's book. Then "I realized the book would be better as a novel, and I started writing it.''

Glaubman's manuscript of just 70 pages was circulated to agents, then publishers. Random House published Life Is So Good last year.

This July, Glaubman--and 1,700 other people--accompanied Dawson's family to lay George Dawson down to rest at the age of 103.

Glaubman was amazed at the turnout for Dawson's funeral, because he hadn't realized how many lives had changed because of George Dawson's story.

"My world expanded through him, as his expanded through me,'' says Glaubman."We taught each other things. To be able to see people from all over the world inspired by one man's quest for education was an amazing sight," says Glaubman.
Glaubman says that Life Is So Good is good reading for high school students. "It's about our country's history," he says, "seen through the eyes of someone who lived it for a century.''