Teacher of the Year speaks at Pitt

Teacher of the Year Sean McComb’s difficult childhood drove him to make his students believe in their own success. 

The Council of Chief State School Officers, a national nonprofit organization of public education officials,  named McComb National Teacher of the Year for 2014. McComb, who graduated from Pitt’s School of Education in 2005 with a master’s degree in education, returned to his alma mater to talk about inspiring hope and self-determination in students to students Monday at the University Club. 

McComb’s Baltimore school district nominated him for the honor. CCSSO has awarded the National Teacher of the Year award since 1952 and chose McComb, in part, because of his implementation of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) at Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts. Winners of the Teacher of the Year award take a year off of teaching to travel the country to advocate for their profession. Their home state and district fund their salary and benefits while they travel. McComb returned to speak at Pitt because he is “indebted” to his alma mater.

McComb teaches English classes at Patapsco High in Baltimore County Public Schools, alongside AVID classes, a program he initiated at the school with his wife, Sarah, who also teaches at Patapsco. AVID targets students in the academic middle, who are not at an academic disadvantage, but who need an extra boost. The program helps them prepare for college and originated in California 30 years ago.

“[AVID] targets students who have college dreams. It helps students understand the college process and prepares students for college admission,” McComb said.

The students who participate in AVID are usually from disadvantaged backgrounds or are first generation college students, McComb said. The AVID program challenges students to do the work that will make them successful by focusing on holistic academics, such as connecting literature to present-day social issues. The program is 40 percent academic skill building, 40 percent tutoring and 20 percent motivational college readiness, which includes going on field trips and meeting with advisers. 

According to a Dec. 2014 study by AVID, 87 percent of 2010 and 2011 high school graduates in the program completed their freshman and sophomore years of college, exceeding the national average of 77 percent. 

McComb is thankful that he had teachers who pushed him to think critically, he said, and wants to do the same for his students.

“Once I was here and really came to excel, I thought, ‘I really want to give this gift back to students,’” McComb said.  

McComb’s positivity and his message about the importance of teaching is why the School of Education invited him to speak at Pitt, according to Director of Constituent Relations for the School of Education Michael Hass.

Alan Lesgold, dean of the School of Education, said he had wanted to invite McComb back to Pitt since he was nominated for Teacher of the Year last year.

“We knew Sean was in the running, so we kept an eye on him,” Lesgold said. “People need to hear the lesson of hope he brings. It’s a lot of work to be a teacher and people need positive examples.”

Justin O’Connor, a student in the School of Education and a student teacher at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, agreed.

“You always have bad days. You can feel incompetent. It’s really rewarding to hear someone 10 years in facing the same things,” O’Connor said after the talk.  

The gap in readiness for college is generally in reading and writing skills. That gives the focus in the skill-building. McComb said his AVID classes include some SAT prep and practice writing college essays.

“The cool part for me is that I loop with students in that program for four years. From the time they step foot in the door of high school to the time they walk across that stage, we have that relationship,” McComb said in an interview. 

McComb told his own story of growing up with an alcoholic mother, who passed away at the end of his senior year of high school. He said in his talk that his family lived off food stamps, and he often worried about losing his home. 

“I thought to myself at 16 sitting up in bed one night, ‘My family will never feel this stress,” McComb said.

McComb then spoke about two teachers who helped him, particularly his 11th grade Advanced Placement English teacher. After 10th grade, McComb said, his high school recommended he move down to a lower level English class. He appealed this decision, though, and spoke with the AP teacher about taking the class despite the recommendations. The teacher agreed, based on McComb’s situation. 

“He said, ‘I will help you, but I won’t lower my expectations for you,’” McComb said.

As part of the AP English class, McComb said he read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” a story in which the title character escapes his alcoholic father. 

“I worked until 2 a.m. on the essay, partially because I liked it, but mostly because I wanted this teacher to be proud. The day he read my intro in front of the class, I thought to myself, ‘I can do this,’” McComb said.

McComb said his struggles help him to connect to his students.

“They see where I am and I can say from a place of experience, ‘You can do this too,’” McComb said. “I’ve walked this path and I know that things will come up and it will look hard and it will look like there are these brick walls, but you can figure out how to get around them or go through them or go over them.”

McComb said he wants to inspire this same feeling in his students. 

“I want to spend my life giving others confidence in themselves,” McComb said.