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stoujjvilksuntribunem thursday may 17 2007 13 honoured teacher brings literature to life in classroom by hannelore volpe staff writer whitchurchstouffville resident peter polley is the only canadian to be award ed the singer prize for excel lence in secondary school teaching from harvard uni versity the other three teachers who received the honour are from the united states mr polley received the award after one of his former english students pamela chan wrote an essay about him as the teacher who most influenced her lifems chan is graduating from harvard this year prize winners receive 3000 and their school receives 2500 for teacher development mr polley said he was speechless when his princi pal clara williams from york mills collegiate institute in north york announced he had won the award mr polley is head of eng lish and a curriculum leader at the school he is passionately dedi cated to the students mrs williams said and goes beyond what is expected of him he assists students in applying to university or col lege or for scholarships mr polley also acts as a mentor to some of the younger teachers at the school kids don t forget the passionate teachers kids dont forget the pas sionate teachers ms williams said english has to be brought to life mr polley believes by relating works by authors such as shakespeare and margaret laurence to the students lives students have to act out the works read them out and sometimes dress up and do skits his classroom is like the old curiosity shop in the dickens novel he says filled with books posters and memorabilia there are cos tumes which he isnt adverse to putting on him self to help the teaching process along when her husband teaches english pamela pol ley noted students arent just getting english theyre get ting history film and philos ophy as well all four singer award win ners referred to the students who nominated them as a standard to which other stu dents should aspire while the c ms chan received in grade 10 from whitchurchstouffvilles peter polley in his classroom at york mills collegiate in toronto he was honoured by harvard university this spring mr polley was the lowest she had in all her years in school she is the only student in his 37 years of teaching to whom he gave a final mark of 100 per cent just before she graduated from york mills i have never had a stu dent like this he said he uses many of his life experiences when hes teaching living on a rural property in northern whitchurchstouffville he has many stories of country life to tell his urban students theyre fascinated to hear about the deer that come to feed at the polleys bird feed er by the ducks on the pond and the polleys visits to the stouffville country market they think i am coming down from the great north he said chuckling his classroom is like the old curiosity shop in the dickens novel he says filled with books posters and memorabilia its important for a teacher to make lessons as active as possible he said and hes not surprised when every year even after 37 years in the classroom at least one student will come up with an insight into eng lish literature he hasnt thought of before as a teacher you are always learning mr polley said your ticket includes gourmet meal with wine host reception host bar live silent auction and an intimate evening with tony orlando entertainment sponsors highland funeral home jrlatutam cjiapad scot iabcank group sponsored in pari by mark ham economist sun to order your tickets call 905472477s ex 3401 or 3402 or visit our website at wwwmarkhavenfoundatiqrica the markhaven foundation 54 parkway avenue markham qn l3p 2g4