Mr. S. Gets Gold Star

SEELEY LAKE – Each month of the school year, television station KECI singles out a western Montana teacher who has made significant contributions toward education. Nominees are chosen based primarily on letters submitted by students. April's Gold Star teacher is Seeley Lake Junior High teacher, Duane Schlabach.

KECI presents the winner with the Gold Star Award plaque and comes to the school to interview and film both teacher and students. The resulting production is aired on the station throughout the month. [See Seeley Swan Pathfinder on Facebook for a link to the film clip about Schlabach.]

In the interview Schlabach who is generally called Mr. S. by his students, identified self-confidence as the most important thing students need to learn.

He said, "If they have self-confidence, they have the ability to perform academically and their social and emotional state of health is such that they can achieve the goals and dreams that they aspire to achieve."

His students demonstrated their self-confidence during their individual interviews.

Klaire Kovatch said, "Mr. S. says if we reach hard enough, we can grab something and take it." She added, "He likes interactive teaching and he believes that if we get up and do something enough, it'll stick with us."

Matthew Whitman focused on the personal attention Schlabach gives to each student, "If I have something I need to say, I can always go talk to him."

Asked about his reaction to being named a Gold Star winner, Schlabach said, "It's really cool. I'm especially honored because it comes from the students."

Schlabach then added that in some ways he felt uncomfortable being singled out for the award. "There is a web of support. There's scaffolding behind teaching. This is not some single event; it's recognition that I think needs to include all teachers. And I feel very strongly about that. If education is done correctly, it's a web."

Schlabach gave an example of what he meant by pointing to the desks in his classroom. He said Seeley Lake Elementary Head of Maintenance John Devins once asked him what Schlabach's ideal classroom would look like. Schlabach answered he would have stand-up desks for the students so they could sit or stand as they wished, without looking twice as big as everyone else.

Devins returned a few days later with a prototype desk made from pieces of discarded cafeteria tables. Schlabach let all the students try it out in the classroom on a rotational basis. After he reported back to Devins that the students loved the desk, Devins asked Pyramid Mountain Lumber if they would donate some wood for the project. They agreed and Devins soon had desks for the whole classroom. The school purchased bar stools so students could sit singly or two or three to a desk. That sense of involvement and interaction with other teachers and with the larger community is what Schlabach meant when he spoke of an interactive web and support scaffolding.

Schlabach added, "I love teaching here for that very reason. Everybody pulls together."