Sean Muller Awarded for Excellence in Teaching

It's with the love and support of his family, the support of the Merrimack community, high school administration and his coworkers and students that high school science teacher Sean Muller said he could stand before the school to receive a science teacher of the year award on Tuesday.

Muller, a 14-year teacher at the high school, who coaches the three-time state champion Science Olympiad team, was honored with the Science Education Leadership Award and a $5,000 check for his department from Cubist Pharmaceuticals in connection with the New England Patriots and 98.5 The Sports Hub, home of New England Patriot Radio Network.

Muller's award was given during a morning whole-school assembly that featured guest speaker Joe Andruzzi, a three-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots, who spoke to the students about perseverance to succeed through the ups and downs that life will bring them.

Andruzzi spoke from experience, as a football player who saw injury push his career to lows and successes that put him at the top of the hills of life's roller coaster. He faced “the tunnel” at the bottom of the big hill when he was diagnosed with a form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2008, for which he is now in remission.

Andruzzi likened his challenges on and off the field to the challenges that most people will face in their own lives and encouraged students to “live for today.”

“We don't know what tomorrow brings,” Andruzzi said. “We can plan for tomorrow. We can't change what we did yesterday, you know? Heck we can't even change what we did this morning. Let's live for today, live for this moment.”

Steve Gilman, executive vice president at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, who presented Muller's award, said it is designed to recognize teachers who encourage students to pursue careers in science.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company "focused on the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs in the acute care environment." It has developed treatments for various illnesses including one for a very serious strain of the MRSA virus, Gilman said.

“Sean is an outstanding example of someone who inspires young people to pursue careers in science,” Gilman said.

Principal Ken Johnson recognized the successes of the high school's science department, which has seen many achievements in the last few years; building an electric car, being the state's only high school biodiesel team and winning three state championships at the Science Olympiad.

Johnson recognized Muller as being “in large part responsible for this success.”

During his own remarks, Muller said he'll never forget hearing his name on the radio announcing him as a finalist in Cubist's third annual competition. He first found out about the competition late one night in November, listening to the Patriots beat the Jets on a radio broadcast.

“I almost fell out of my chair when during a break in play I heard my name on the radio,” Muller said. “It doesn't get much better than that; destroying the Jets and hearing your name on the radio during a Patriots game.”

He thanked Gilman and Cubist Pharmaceuticals, the Patriots organization and the Kraft family, Andruzzi and Chris Lobono with 98.5 The Sports Hub, New England Patriots Radio Network, for the award and the experience they created around it, which included recognition at a January Patriots game. It has made him feel like a rock star, he said.

Muller thanked his wife and kids for their love and support, his parents for their encouragement to do the best he could, and the Merrimack community, the school staff and students for their belief in him and their willingness to let him teach in a way that makes sense for him and helps his students learn.

Muller punctuated his own remarks, demonstrating a little bit of why it is his students like his teaching-style so much. Muller called up a student volunteer to help him teach the chemistry-prom dances he has taught his junior students.

Muller's goofy dances illustrate different procedures used in chemistry class and serve as a fun way to get teens excited about learning.

In fact it was one of his former students' nominations that made him stand out among the pool of teachers up for the award according to a press release on the Cubist Pharmaceuticals website. 

"Mr. Muller was my honors chemistry teacher four years ago. I am now in my junior year at the University of Connecticut studying Material Science Engineering, which is the study of different materials and why they exhibit certain mechanical characteristics, which can be used to create new materials. As you can imagine, most of my courses are a mix between physics and chemistry. Even now, I find myself using different tools and tricks that Mr. Muller taught me. Mr. Muller is a creative and engaging teacher who can spark the interest of many different students."