WINDSOR HIGH TEACHER SAMUEL SCHEER HONORED WITH “UCONN EARLY COLLEGE EXPERIENCE INSTRUCTOR AWARD”

Samuel Scheer, a longtime teacher at Windsor High School, has been honored with a “2012 UConn Early College Experience (ECE) Instructor Award for Excellence in Course Instruction.” The award celebrates the professional achievement of extraordinary teachers who teach college-level courses to high school students. Scheer is one of only three teachers in Connecticut to be recognized with this award.

Scheer is an AP (Advanced Placement) English Language and AP English Literature teacher at Windsor High School. As part of the UConn Early College Experience (ECE), Windsor High students who take his AP Literature and Composition class also can earn college credits at the University of Connecticut.

“More than 9,000 motivated Connecticut students at 160 high schools, including Windsor High, are involved in the UConn Early College Experience program and it is gratifying to be selected as one of the three best instructors teaching these talented and disciplined students,” explains Samuel Scheer. “Students in this program benefit by taking college courses in a warm setting that is both familiar and conducive to learning.”

The UConn ECE is an opportunity for students to take University of Connecticut courses while still in high school. Every UConn ECE course is equivalent to the same course at the University of Connecticut. There are approximately 50 courses in over 20 disciplines that are made available to partner high schools. Courses are taught on the high school campus by high school instructors – like Mr. Scheer – who have been certified as adjunct faculty members by the University of Connecticut. UConn ECE students benefit by taking college courses in a familiar setting with an instructor they know. Courses offered through UConn ECE are approximately one-tenth of the cost in comparison to taking the same course on a UConn campus.

A teacher at Windsor High School for 20 years, Scheer recently was reappointed to the Editorial Board of JML (Journal of Modern Literature), a leading scholarly journal run from offices at Drexel University. In 2011, he was one of only 23 teachers nationwide to be named “All American Teachers of the Year” by the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) – the leading national non-profit organization for improving American students’ math and science achievement. He was honored in the English studies category at an NMSI ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Scheer is the co-author of two books, “The Work of Teachers in America: A Social History through Stories” and “The Teacher Centered School: Re-Imagining School Reform in the Twenty-First Century.” His article, “The High School Teacher as Scholar,” was published a 2011 anthology of well known education scholars by Columbia University Press. Scheer, a Northampton, Mass. resident, holds a graduate degree in English from Oxford University. A lecturer on English education at Smith College, he also has taught in both Texas and New York.

For more information about Samuel Scheer, call Windsor High School at (860) 687-2020. For questions about the Windsor Board of Education and any of its schools, visit www.windsorct.org or call (860) 687-2000.