Staff Writer

Mitchell Lewis says he believes teaching is the most admirable career a person can choose, and a person who chooses to be a teacher must work constantly at bettering themselves to offer students the best possible instruction.

"A good teacher realizes that he or she will never achieve the status of perfection," he said. "However, a great teacher never stops striving to attain it."

A general music teacher at Excelsior Middle School, Lewis was named "Teacher of the Year" for Union County. The district's top teacher was chosen after an interview and essay process involving the teachers of the year from each of the district's schools.

A Charleston native, Lewis said his high school band director , Gerald Polk, had a profound influence on his own decision to become an educator and helped him get accepted to Newberry College.

He said he can still remember the exact moment that the prospect of becoming a teacher first entered his mind. He was a senior in band class, rehearsing "Oh Holy Night" which featured him as trumpet soloist.

"I had worked really hard on my playing ability since beginning band in the sixth grade," he said. "I fell in love with music immediately. Admittedly, I had a natural talent for music and the trumpet, but I also loved the way that music could communicate to people on a level unobtainable by any other means on earth. Due to all my hard work, I found myself the leader of the high brass section during my first year of high school and had remained in that position until graduation. First chair players always played the solos in our band program and I had my solo part memorized so that I could concentrate more intently on the timbre, dynamics and phrasing of my performance."

Lewis said he savored having a large and talented band accompany him on solo performances and that day, it seemed the band director was taking special note of his abilities.The two were close - Polk was a talented musician across multiple instruments and played with many dance bands, especially those who played shag music. Polk had taken Lewis with him on some gigs and allowed him to play with his group.

Polk called Lewis into his office and had some surprising words - "Mitchell, you have to go to college."

"Mr. Polk knew my family wasn't financially capable of sending me to college," Lewis said. "But he asked me how I would like to do what he did for a living. Then he said that I could become a teacher! I had never even thought of teaching as a career. My career was supposed to be working at the Naval Weapons Station just like my father and many of the people in my neighborhood did."

Polk helped Lewis by placing him in contact with the right people at Newberry College, which he had attended.

"I still give thanks on a daily basis for the opportunity given to me to do what I enjoy most in this world," Lewis said.

Lewis earned his bachelor of arts in music education from Newberry and began his teaching career at Mid-Carolina Middle and high schools. He also has taught at Andrew Jackson Middle and high schools and Lewisville Middle and high school. He was the 2003-2004 teacher of the year at Lewisville Middle School.

Lewis also holds a computer certification from Piedmont Technical College and has conducted a technology workshop for local teachers.

He has been accepted into Winthrop University's master's in educational leadership program, which includes principal's certification.

Lewis said his philosophy is that successful teaching is a result of many things, all controlled by one person - the teacher.

"Some teachers blame poor learning on everything from a lack of materials to unsupportive administrators, but I have always seen it from a different angle," he said. "Who is in the classroom with the students and who has the knowledge that needs to be conveyed to those young people? Not the books, or the papers or the administrators. It's the teacher, the lone adult inside that classroom that has spent many years obtaining the knowledge that needs to be conveyed to those students sitting in the desks has the only two things that he or she needs to be successful: The knowledge and those in need of it. I believe that many teachers just lack,or have lost, the creative sense of imagination when it comes to bringing information alive."

Lewis' colleagues say he brings joy and enthusiasm to the school's music program and to the school.

"Students are eager to enter his room as he greets them at the door with a smile and a warm welcome," said Excelsior Assistant Principal Kathy Taylor. "His genuine love for students, music and technology are apparent in his classroom on a daily basis. Through the use of the Smartboard, students are eager to play the keyboard as well as interact with other musical elements. Utilizing his Internet access and presentation capabilities, he brings the outside musical world to his students and exposes them to things that many students will never experience. Students are encouraged and praised positively for their efforts and in some way he manages to pull musical abilities out of them all."

The sign-up lists for Lewis' all and spring chorus clubs are lengthy and require auditions to get the club to a manageable number, Mrs. Taylor said.

"The performances at the end of each semester are priceless and always standing room only," she said.

Fellow teacher Patti Ward Hughey said Lewis' energy is contagious with the students.

"The love that he has for each child in the classroom is so noticed that the children hold one another accountable for their behavior and make sure he is respected at all times," she said. "He is the model of effective classroom management and new teachers could learn from him as they embrace the challenges of first year teaching."

Dr. Susanne Floyd Gunter, principal at Excelsior, said she has observed Lewis teaching fifth and sixth grade general music on numerous occasions and she is impressed with how he engages his students in hands-on learning and provides a challenging standards-based fine arts curriculum for all types of student learners.

"Mr. Lewis constantly strives to integrate and support other content areas through the arts," she said.

Much of Lewis' community involvement comes about from his musical background. As a member of Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Newberry, he has played trumpet for many services over the years and has been called on the play "Taps" at funerals of veterans in the community.

"Although that task may seem quite somber, it is actually one of the most appreciated things a trumpeter is called upon to do," he said. "Families of veterans always remember those moments as a touching tribute and to be able to provide that experience is always a blessing for me."

Lewis also volunteers to perform in fundraising events for Newberry College, including twice at the Newberry Opera House in the past four years with jazz band groups in efforts to raise scholarship money.

Lewis will compete with teachers across the state for the honor of being South Carolina's teacher of the year. He said if he wins this award and tours the state, his message will be one of hope.

"I would ask my fellow educators to renew their passion and excitement for their chosen areas by working hard to plan lessons that are stimulating and interactive for today's students," he said. "To become 'young' again at heart and strive to make every child they come in contact with yearn for knowledge that the teacher possesses."