Top Teachers
3 College of Education Alumni Honored as Teachers of the Year
 

For Bob Grimm, Sue Gutierrez and Eric Stemle, the 2002–2003 academic year was nothing short of life changing. As the best teachers of their respective states, all three were inspired, awed and even, at times, moved by the opportunities and experiences that they encountered in their remarkable year.

The three are unique in any number of ways: their approaches to the classroom, the subjects they teach, the states in which they reside, the years they have been in teaching. Yet Grimm (BS 78), Gutierrez (BA 92/MA 01) and Stemle (BA76/MA 81) are united by two central aspects of their lives: their passion for the teaching profession and degrees from MSU.

First Lady Laura Bush, a former educator, personally welcomed all of the teachers of the year to the White House.

From meeting the president of the United States and spending a week at NASA to getting to know each other and the other state teachers of the year in Dallas, the three educators were relentless advocates of their profession and formed a special bond as MSU alumni.

What follows are profiles of Bob Grimm, Eric Stemle, and Sue Gutierrez, three outstanding graduates whose achievements are in the best tradition of the College of Education at Michigan State University.

Sometimes, Bob Grimm still can’t believe it. His selection as Illinois’ Teacher of the Year came as an utter surprise. He knew he had been selected as one of 14 finalists, but when his name was called out at a banquet in their honor, he was taken aback.

The affable Grimm (BS 78), a physics teacher at Fremd High School in suburban Chicago, was stunned. “I was sitting on stage and had no idea and then, Boom! I’ll tell you, from that point on things changed quite dramatically.”
The former Spartan spent the 2002–2003 academic year out of the classroom. His job was to be a spokesperson and advocate for the students and teachers of Illinois. Working out of his home, he made more than 90 speeches and appearances and logged thousands of miles.

In addition, Grimm worked with Motorola, which is based near his home, and the Fermi National Accelerator Lab to develop exhibits that can be used in classrooms.

“I’m a physics teacher and my thrust is modern physics, in other words high-energy particles physics and radio frequency physics,” he said. “So I’ve devoted time to those areas. It’s a lot of fun. When would you get a chance to be an engineer for a year at a company like Motorola or work with the physicists at Fermi Lab?”

Grimm grew up in suburban Detroit, and didn’t attend msu with the idea of becoming a teacher. It was a wrong answer on a physics exam that set him on a path to teaching. He was certain that his answer was correct. He argued with his professor, Sherwood Haines.
“He explained why I was not correct. I just couldn’t believe it, so Sherwood challenged me. He said, ‘You want to be a teacher. In teaching, it’s important that you demonstrate how it is that these things actually work. You can’t just explain it with pencil and paper.’ So he compelled me to develop a demonstration. To make a long story short, I did the demonstration and wound up presenting it at a meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

“That really hooked me into teaching and I’ve never turned back.”

Not only did Grimm not turn back, but he thrived as a teacher. His honors include Illinois High School Physics Teacher of the Year, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching, and the Illinois Board of Education’s Outstanding Partnership in Education Award.

In the end, Grimm said he does not consider himself the best teacher in the state. Instead, he views the honor of serving as teacher of the year as simply being a representative of the best teaching that goes on in classrooms across Illinois.

“I’ve gotten to meet and speak with so many teachers, people who have put their life’s work into helping children,” he said. “You can feel their deep concern and care for these kids. It’s a wonderful experience in Illinois, and I think that in many states the teacher of the year gets a very good view of where we are headed in education.”

Eric Stemle was sitting in the middle of a packed gym at Evanston High School in Evanston, Wyoming, when he found out he had been selected as that state’s teacher of the year.

He was more than a little surprised—the school had secretly organized the assembly in his honor. When he was asked to say a few words, he approached the podium and called all of the teachers to join him on stage. It was his way of pointing out that he was just one of many great teachers at his school and in the state.

“It was such an honor,” Stemle said. “I was so grateful to have been chosen teacher of the year and grateful to those educators who helped me to become successful and I was thankful to have them by my side.”

Stemle may be the only state teacher of the year who had to compete with his wife for the honor. His wife, Teresa (BS 76/MA 81), was also nominated for Wyoming Teacher of the Year. In fact, the two met as student teachers at MSU in the early 1970s.

They were both assigned to Coloma High School, Eric teaching English and Teresa teaching music. The romance blossomed during their lunch hours together. Twenty-four years later, both of them are still as passionate about teaching as when they were students at MSU.

Over the years, Eric Stemle’s dynamism and passion for language and literature and his ability to engage his students in the subject matter have garnered him much recognition. He was selected the Wal-Mart Outstanding Teacher for Sweetwater County, Teacher of the Year at Green River High School, and Teacher of the Year at Lincoln Middle School.

“I told my students that becoming state teacher of the year was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Stemle said. “But now I don’t think so because I don’t think very many people get to go to the Oval Office. I don’t think this happens even once in a lifetime. It has been such an amazing time.”

Unlike many of his colleagues, Stemle has not been on sabbatical from his classroom duties during his tenure. Yet he has been active, speaking to community groups and educators as often as he can and organizing former state teachers of the year into a group that can contribute to educational issues in Wyoming.

He has also relished the opportunities to meet and interact with the other state teachers of the year. He has developed a close bond with both Bob Grimm and Sue Gutierrez.

Like Grimm, Stemle discovered the teaching profession at MSU. He had first thought of becoming a journalist and then a novelist. It was a counselor who suggested teaching. Teaching has turned out to be an incredible journey for which he will always be grateful to MSU.

“What I tell my students is that my dream was to be an artist and I always felt I wasn’t pursuing that dream. I’d write on the side, but I felt that until I published I wasn’t that serious. I’ve really come to see that the art that I really meant to practice was teaching. That is really what I am about, and that’s made all the difference.”
 

Twenty-two thousand. That’s how many miles Sue Gutierrez put in as Michigan’s Teacher of the Year. And for Gutierrez, every one of those miles was a labor of love.

“I’ve learned something new every single day and I’ve just been desperate to give something back,” Gutierrez said. “It’s been such a great experience. I have been constantly meeting someone incredible, or doing something great with kids. Every week was just the top week of the year, and then the next week was even better.”

Gutierrez undoubtedly had the most unique teacher-of-the-year experience of the three msu graduates and probably of any of the top educators. In the middle of her tenure, she and her husband welcomed a new addition to the Gutierrez family.

Their son, Daniel, was born on March 18, 2003, and after six weeks on maternity leave, Gutierrez went right back to serving as Michigan Teacher of the Year. “I don’t think many people can say they had a baby while being teacher of the year.”

Gutierrez, like Grimm, had the opportunity to take a sabbatical from teaching to travel across the state and speak to and meet with teachers and professional groups. When she addressed groups, she tried to make clear her dedication to and passion for teaching and her commitment to her students and their learning.

Gutierrez was based at the Michigan Department of Education in Lansing, and she quickly made her presence felt. She was assigned an office in a far-off corner of the building. She felt that as teacher of the year, she should have a more accessible place, closer to the top administrators.

The result? She was moved to an office within 20 feet of Superintendent Tom Watkins’ office.

From that vantage point, Gutierrez said she was able to get an insider’s view of how educational policy is crafted. Months before issues hit the newspapers, she was able to get a sense of the discussions and debates.
The experience has made her a different educator than the one who started the year. “I only knew the Forest Hills school district. Now, I have resources across the state. I have perspectives from across the state. I have a greater understanding of the needs of our urban and rural kids. I have greater understanding of why certain policies are enacted and who the key players are.

“When I read the paper I know the people who are quoted. It’ll be tough to be back on a schedule and isolated from what is happening in Lansing and in schools throughout Michigan.

Gutierrez, who had taught history at Central Middle School but is now serving in an administrative position at the Grand Rapids–area school district, said there are many experiences that she will treasure, but perhaps most of all is the opportunity to get to know the other teachers of the year from around the country. It was exhilarating and unforgettable to be around the best that teaching has to offer.

“It was unbelievable to walk into a room and there be around 54 recognized teachers of the year,” she said. “They all spoke the same language, all of them loved kids and were just on top of their games. I didn’t have to be the innovator or the leader. It was just fun to sit back in awe and absorb it all.”

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