Date: Fri 23-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Lois-Gardner-teaching-award

Full Text:

with headshot `Always More To Learn,' Says Teaching Award Nominee

Lois Gardner

1997 Presidential

Teaching Award Nominee

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

Teaching math to middle school children can't be the easiest job in the world,

but Newtown resident and longtime Danbury teacher Lois Gardner isn't suffering

any burnout symptoms.

On the contrary, after 31 years spent teaching elementary and middle school

math and science, Mrs Gardner still enjoys going to work every day, watching

her Broadview Middle School sixth graders grapple with difficult math concepts

and, best of all, seeing them grow in self-confidence as they master the

material.

"The feeling of self-worth and a desire to learn - those are the most

important things we can teach them," Mrs Gardner said.

It's more important than how to get 1600s on the SATs, she added during an

interview this week.

Mrs Gardner was recently nominated for a National Science Foundation (NSF)

Presidential Award as one of the top 200 math and science teachers in the

nation. She is one of three finalists nationwide in the middle school math

category.

"We probably won't hear the results until the fall," Mrs Gardner said.

By then, she will undoubtedly have added several new professional achievements

and awards to her growing list.

Just this past weekend, Mrs Gardner was honored in Hartford by the Business

and Professional Women of Connecticut with their 1997 "Reach For The Stars"

Award for Excellence in Education.

Previous awards too numerous to list include being named Broadview Teacher of

the Year in 1995 and a Western Connecticut Math/Science Leader in 1994-95.

Modest Beginnings

Mrs Gardner's long list of professional degrees reflects her firm belief that

you can never stop learning. When a challenge presents itself, she said, "You

jump in with both feet."

"I started off with a bachelor's degree in education... just like we all did

back then," she commented wryly.

Since graduating in 1966 from Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pa., however,

she has gone on to earn a master's degree in gifted teaching and assertive

discipline training at Fairfield and Sacred Heart Universities.

She earned a second master's degree in math education at Central Connecticut

State University in New Britain.

From 1990 to 1992, Mrs Gardner was a PIMMS (Project to Increase Mastery of

Math and Science) Middle School Fellow in math at Wesleyan University in

Middletown and, in 1993, she was a Trinity "Construct" (National Math/Science

Endowment) Fellow, a Michigan State Middle School Mathematics Fellow and a

Harvard "Active Learning/Outward Bound" Fellow.

All this while continuing with her regular teaching duties in Danbury and

raising her family.

Family Responsibilities

Despite the demands placed upon Mrs Gardner by pursuing her teaching career

while following a path of professional growth, her family has always been her

first priority.

She and her husband, Jay Gardner, first bought their Pepperidge Road home in

1966, and they raised two children there.

Marc and Jamie Gardner both went through the Newtown school system. During

those child-raising years, Mrs Gardner spent many hours working for PTA, being

a referee for swim meets, being a Girl Scout and Boy Scout leader, teaching

Sunday school and acting as campaign coordinator for Mae Schmidle when she ran

for secretary of the state.

Now that her children are grown, Mrs Gardner is happy to see them making their

own way. Marc just graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in

electrical engineering and computer sciences, and he "actually landed the

second job (with MCI in Raleigh, N.C.) he interviewed for," she said.

"He sent out 168 resumes over the Internet. That's how they do things these

days," she commented.

Her daughter, Jamie, is a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is

in her eighth year as a water safety instructor for the Parks and Recreation

Department.

"We're just a normal modern-day family" coping with busy lives, she said,

sometimes living apart out of necessity.

Her greatest challenge, she said, is managing the Newtown home by herself

while her husband lives in Mountaintop, Pa., where he was forced to move to

follow an employment opportunity.

In 1993, Mr Gardner not only fought a battle with cancer, he was "down-sized"

out of his IBM job with no advance notice. The couple have been pursuing

litigation regarding the manner in which the layoff was conducted.

"I sometimes say to myself, `God wanted me to do this - stand on my own two

feet.' Once I was teaching other people about being assertive, how to be

advocates for themselves. Now, I have to walk the walk!" Mrs Gardner said.

Changes In Education

When asked what excited her most about teaching and education these days, Mrs

Gardner's eyes lit up and she could hardly stop talking about what she sees as

a dramatic change in the way children are learning.

It's all so different now, she said.

Industry is looking for problem solvers, not rote learners. Kids have to know

how to function in a group. Rather than memorize math facts, they have to

estimate, negotiate and prove their answers.

"I ask them, `Is your answer a reasonable one?' If not, they should go back

and look at the problem. It's all done with calculators and computers, not

pencils and paper," she added.

Another area Mrs Gardner feels strongly about is the value of diversity in an

education or work environment.

Her students at Broadview are largely minorities, she said, and they must

struggle with language and cultural difficulties that are not experienced by

students in a homogeneous population such as Newtown's. In addition, their

families may not be always available to help them with homework or in other

ways.

But these minority students are well-rounded and practical in so many ways

that their Newtown contemporaries aren't, she added. They can do things for

themselves and many are very focused.

"They will work hard now matter what, at 120 percent," Mrs Gardner said.

"There is a vastness of talent out there."

Then she paused to reflect for a moment upon her experience of teaching the

Danbury children over the last 31 years - seeing so many former students

return with children (and even grandchildren!) of their own.

"Some of the ones I had the most trouble with have made the best parents."