Fifth grade science and math teacher Gary Koppelman from Blissfield, Michigan, shows his students some of his favorite creatures that inhabit his Blissfield Environmental Life Lab.
It is always a joy to write about chalkboard champions who have earned national recognition for their hard work in the classroom. One such teacher is Gary Koppelman, a fifth grade science and math teacher from Michigan who established an environmental life lab, and for this work has earned numerous prestigious awards.
Gary attended Eastern Michigan University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Science in 1973 and his Master’s degree in Elementary Education in 1976. He inaugurated his career in education with Deerfield Public Schools, where he taught fifth and sixth grades from 1973 to 1976. In 1976, he transferred to Blissfield Community Schools, where he taught fourth and fifth grades until 1982. Next, Gary took a position at the New Life School, where he taught kindergarten through eighth grade until 1993. Finally, he taught fifth grade for Blissfield Community Schools in Blissfield, Michigan. In all, Gary has devoted 45 years of his life to the teaching profession.
For his work in the classroom, Gary has garnered numerous awards. Among these are the Michigan State Special Tribute Teacher Award in 2003 and 2012; the Golden Apple Teacher Award from Channel 24 TV in Toledo, Ohio, in 2004; the “Closing the Gap in Education Award” from the Chrysler Corporation in 2008; and the Shell Science Teaching Award from the Shell Oil Company in 2013. In 2014, Gary was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas. That year, he also received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from President Barack Obama.
Gary would probably say that his biggest accomplishment is establishing the Blissfield Environmental Life Lab, abbreviated BELL. “Since our school is in a northern climate, it is sometimes difficult for students to observe and experiment year-round with plants and animals and witness all stages of development from young to adult without interruption,” explains Gary. “The BELL has become an arboretum and terrarium, furnished with various habitats and biomes for observation and experimentation, allowing the entire district to use as an extended classroom,” he continued. The BELL contains a 1,500 gallon fresh water pond, a butterfly house, a 1,500-gallon salt water ecosystem, a bird aviary, a herpetile area, and an invertebrate zoo. “Students are now doing experiments and obtaining knowledge as they make predictions about life science and our environment,” says Gary. “Knowledge is deeply set as children invest part of themselves in exploring plants, animals, or various habitats found within the climatically controlled greenhouse,” he concludes.
Rock on, Gary.
