By ANDREA MCCANN
Indiana Correspondent

NEW HARMONY, Ind. — Lois Gray, who’s been the entire science department staff at New Harmony School for the past 22 years, has been named National Rural Teacher of the Year.

Her enthusiasm for science education, excellent teaching skills and community involvement earned Gray the distinction of being the first Indiana teacher to receive the title.

She advanced to the national contest after being named Indiana Rural Teacher of the Year. For that honor, she received a $1,000 award from Indiana Farm Bureau (IFB) at a Sept. 30 meeting of the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Assoc. (ISRSA) in Indianapolis. IFB has had a representative on the board since ISRSA’s inception and donates the monetary award.

“We feel strongly that there needs to be a special focus on rural education,” said Katrina Hall, IFB’s board representative for the past nine years.

With an annual enrollment of about 200 students in grades K-12, New Harmony is the state’s second-smallest school. But size certainly is not a deterrent to its educational mission. The small classes allow for individual attention, and this public school has all the amenities of large schools, including libraries and computer, science and distance education labs. There’s a full athletic program and academic competitions to challenge students.

According to Principal Doug Mills, Gray’s award shines a spotlight on the success of all the school’s teachers.

“It gives us recognition for having a really great staff, not just with Mrs. Gray,” he said. “All the teachers work hard in a close way to help all students out. Mrs. Gray is definitely a master teacher for others, and it brings great honor to our school for the time she spends working with and for students.”

Mills said many of the more than 650 students whose lives have been touched by Gray cite her as their favorite teacher. He said a favorite activity of Gray’s students is watching webcam broadcasts of salmon, eagles and other animals; she also has “road kill” show-and-tell, bringing in animals to talk about with the students.

“The students and teachers alike enjoy the creativity and humor that she brings into every lesson,” he said. “On top of being a great teacher, Mrs. Gray also has a great personality, and nobody has a greater sense of humor – or love for 1980s hair bands!”
Gray brought a diverse background of knowledge and experience to New Harmony classrooms. She grew up near Detroit and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Michigan State University with a degree in biology education. She worked for the National Park Service in Virginia, where she was quickly named Naturalist of the Year for her creative educational programs.

She then returned to Detroit, where she taught one semester at an inner city school with a student population of more than 3,000. From there, Gray moved to Mitchell, Ind., to work as a naturalist at Spring Mill State Park. During her eight-year tenure, she was named Indiana Young Career Woman of the Year, was made a Kentucky Colonel and was named Naturalist of the Year for the Midwest Region.

Also at Spring Mill, she met her husband, James, the assistant park manager. When he was promoted to park manager at Harmonie State Park in 1982, the couple moved, and Gray created a naturalist consulting business called “Force of Nature.” She also worked as a reporter for the New Harmony Times.

“This creative naturalist brought these experiences into her classroom in 1987 when she started at New Harmony School as the biology teacher,” Superintendent Fran Thoele wrote when she nominated Gray for Rural Teacher of the Year.

“She is a natural at inquiry-based learning and provides ‘hands-on’ experiences of all types for all students, from extracting their own cheek cell DNA to growing albino corn for genetics studies. She is cutting-edge on technology and already has them doing geocaching with handheld GPS units.

“Even though our school is small, she thinks big. She received a $10,000 grant from the Posey County Emergency Management Team to install a research seismometer on school grounds located on the Wabash Valley Fault. Students monitor the computer seismograms and national database. Some have won Tri-State Science Fair awards working with her on the data interpretation. Her students compete in local and regional science fairs annually.”

In addition to her teaching duties, Gray is the Science Club sponsor and homeroom sponsor and coaches the Junior High Academic Bowl, the Current Events Bowl and Envirothon. She also is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Indiana.

“Mrs. Gray is heavily involved in many activities, including (serving as) the Gifted and Talented coordinator, coach for the Junior High Academic Bowl, and a very successful coach of the New Harmony High School Envirothon team,” Mills said. “Her team has qualified for state competition all 12 years she has been involved, and the team has placed first in testing and fourth overall in the past.”

Gray was Posey County Teacher of the Year in 1994 and received a Lilly Creative Teacher Fellowship in 1998 to travel to Italy to study the nonnafiori – aged Northern Italian herb women who use plants as medicinals.

The local community also benefits from Gray’s knowledge and experience. She serves on the New Harmony Parks and Recreation board of directors and is involved in the New Harmony Garden Club.
Gray was recognized as National Rural Teacher of the Year on Oct. 27-29 at the 100th National Rural Education Assoc. convention in San Antonio, Texas, where she was also keynote speaker. She’ll receive a $2,000 honorarium sponsored by the John Deere Co. and the school will receive a $1,000 donation for the purchase of educational materials and supplies.