BBA mourns teacher's passing

Andrew McKeever - Managing Editor

Posted: 12/09/2009 06:00:53 PM EST

MANCHESTER - Brian Gawlik, a film and technology teacher at Burr and Burton Academy, passed away Tuesday, Dec. 8, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover N.H., following complications from cancer. He was 48 years-old.

He was the first technology instructor the school hired following the construction of the Smith Center, which houses the communications and technology classrooms, as well as a fully-equipped television studio. He held the post of the Jonathan Levin chair in technology, which was endowed by Gerald Levin and Barbara Riley Levin in 1998 in honor of Mr. Levin's son.

Gawlik was a natural and inspirational teacher who encouraged numerous students to go onto to further study at the college level in communications and broadcast journalism, said former BBA Headmaster Charles "Chuck" Scranton, who hired him for the position in July, 1999.

At that point, Gawlik had had no previous teaching experience, Scranton said, but he was the right person for the job.

"He had all the obvious skills in terms of understanding the technology and the vision of where we wanted to go," Scranton said. "We took a chance and it was one of the best hires I ever made. He just innately believed that kids had the wisdom and the ability to do something unique."

From September 1999 until June 2008, Gawlik taught digital filmmaking and television news production as well as helped students make their own documentary films. He then spent a year - from June 2008 to June 2009

- at the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City receiving treatment for cancer. He returned to Burr and Burton this fall and resumed his teaching duties until forced to seek further treatment at Dartmouth-Hitchcock about six weeks ago.

Gawlik's passing prompted an outpouring of messages of support and well-wishes on a Facebook page set up by Nikki Grossfeld, a Burr and Burton 10th grade student. By 6 p.m. Tuesday night more than 700 people had left messages or posted photographs, and by Wednesday morning that number had swollen to more than 900.

Gawlik had a huge impact on her brother, who graduated from BBA this past June, Grossfeld said.

"He was the kind of teacher who was also a friend," Grossfeld said. "When I first found out he had a limited number of days left I realized that everyone had memories of him that I would never be able to have.... that made me want to hear more about him. I didn't know it would have as large an outcome as it did, although I was hoping for it. I know he touched not only the lives of all the kids at BBA but also many who have already graduated."

The page will stay up indefinitely, she said.

Gawlik will be deeply missed by the staff and students at the school, said Headmaster Mark Tashjian.

"Brian was a revered teacher, colleague, and friend, and this is a devastating loss to this community," he said. "The only blessing is that he had the chance to say goodbye and leave this world on his own terms. Our hearts go out to the Gawlik family, his students and colleagues, and the students in future generations who will not have the chance to be touched by this great teacher."

Gawlik is survived by his parents, Helen and Joe Gawlik of Manchester, his brother and sister-in-law Joe and Wendy Gawlik of Manchester, his brother Gregg Gawlik of Pawlet, his sister and brother-in-law Jeannine and Eric Lonsway and nephew and niece Quinn and Maeve Lonsway of Portland, Ore.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Saturday, Dec. 12, at Christ Our Savior/ St. Paul's Catholic Church in Manchester at 11 a.m.

Manchester, Vt. - Across Vermont, people stepped out in the dark to look up at the sky last night for a look at the Leonid Meteor shower forecasted for last night.

Standing in the dark at the Manchester Recreation Park, Bill Muench, a teacher at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vt., had an unexpectedly large crowd gathered at 4 a.m. to witness the night-time spectacle.

Muench described the scene, “We had adults, community members, teachers, and there was quite a number of students. I think we topped a hundred!”

“It was just a wonderful experience with everybody getting together and we finally had a clear sky where we could do some viewing.

“We brought the laser out,” he said referring to a bright green pointer often used by astronomers. “We did the constellations, checked out Mars. It wasn’t the most spectacular meteor shower but it was just a great group of kids,” he said, getting the thumbs up from a couple of sleepy-eyed kids.

Tim Dexter, a 17-year old student at the Academy, was one of those who attended the star-gazing Tuesday morning. ”There were a lot of people there. Everybody was just out in the field, they all had their sleeping bags and we were all just laying down looking up at the sky. Some people went over and started making fires for breakfast. Everybody just migrated over there because it got really cold, “he said a bit bleary-eyed as his school day started.

“It was worth it,” he said. “It was like a combination of learning experience and social event. It was a two-fer,” he said. Students huddled together around the fire that morning kept track of how many streaks they spotted zipping across the star-studded backdrop.

Muench pointed out how appealing the event turned out to be for the younger crowd. ”Half of those kids couldn’t make it to school on time on a daily basis,” he said.

“They were there early for a 4 a.m. meeting to view the meteor shower.” Muench said he wasn’t sure beforehand if there would be 5 or 50 people. He said, “I’m especially thrilled that so many people can still get excited about celestial events like this and turn out for it.”

-Vermont Daily News staff report

The Boys do a great job---check out the guitar solos!

Photos from our last gig by Lee Krohn...

Interviews with Dr. Marcy, Dr. Shostak, Fr. Coyne, Gene Kranz and Captain Alan Bean.

Interview clip with Dr. Kevin Hand (Europa Mission) and Dr. Gentry Lee.

Interview with Dr. Seth Shostak from the SETI institute.
Interview with Dr. Jill Tarter from the SETI Institute.

Barb and I used a grant to travel to 8 states on 10 lights in 16 days to interview 14 astronomers and astronauts! The boys were at summer camp while we were gone. We started in New York City, then Yellowstone then on to San Fran, Long Beach, Pasadena, Flaggstaff, Tucson, Houston, Coco Beach and back home. Along the way we spoke with some of teh biggest names in astronomy and space travel.

Bill Muench Receives 2009 Ormbsy Hill Award

English teacher Bill Muench is the 2009 recipient of the Ormsby Hill Trust Fund for Excellence Award. Muench plans to use the grant to “travel, meet, interview and thank the guest speakers” who have addressed his students in his Space and Time class at Burr and Burton.

Muench started teaching the course five years ago to share his passion for space exploration with his students. “This class has evolved into a truly interdisciplinary course,” said Muench, who over the years has invited dozens of speakers to address the students, both in person and through teleconferencing. The award will give him the opportunity to visit space-related sites and meet the men and women who have been involved with space exploration. He will start his journey in Pasadena, California, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and end at the Kennedy Space Center where he will have an front-row seat at the launch in August of the Space Shuttle Discovery. “I will videotape interviews with each person I visit and present the final project to my future students.”

The Ormsby Hill Trust Fund for Excellence provides selected teaching faculty of the school with the financial resources necessary to further their professional development in a profound way. Each year a grant is given to a teacher whose proposed program or project best fulfills the award’s goal of supporting the improvement of the school’s educational mission by enhancing the professional abilities of its teachers.

The object of the grant is to allow faculty members to get outside their routine and engage in activities that will re-energize them as passionate learners and committed teachers. The fund, established by the late Ed Latz, a Burr and Burton teacher and coach for over twenty-five years, is administered by the Board of Trustees as part of the school’s restricted endowment.

Click on video to hear Bill's speech.

Taylor had quite the year on his baseball team and he is still playing this summer on the all-star team. Here are two short videos---1 is the end of a no-hitter he pitched and the other is his third HR in three at bats in the same game! Way to go Tay Tay!!