2009 Glenn Reagan
Community Volunteer Awards
2009 Honoree
Glenn Reagan
Educator of the Year
Glenn Reagan
A wise person once said that teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say. That could certainly be said of Glenn Reagan
of Cordova High School.
A wise person once said that teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say. That could certainly be said of Glenn Reagan of Cordova High School.
Glenn Reagan did not start out to be a teacher. Although he had graduated from the University of Rochester (NY) with a degree is Astrophysics, and a master's degree in Astronomy from the University of California, Santa Cruz, he went to work in the electronics industry. He probably could have stayed there, but he didn't.
Instead, he went back and earned a teaching credential and began teaching science and math full time at Natomas Jr. High. In 1988, Rancho Cordova got lucky when he moved to Mills Jr. High, and later Cordova High, where he has been a teacher since 1993.
Glenn Reagan says he is committed to offering the best science education he can to his 9th grade physical science students and physics and astronomy students in the upper grades. And he delivers on that commitment every day.
Glenn Reagan's contributions to education are numerous:
- He helped establish Cordova High's Polytechnical Engineering Academy, one of the first partnership academies in California. The academy continues to be a vibrant learning community at Cordova High with students making connections with real world challenges.
- He earned a significant grant from the Robert J. Mathews Educational Foundation and used it in partnership with the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society to build the Robert J. Mathews Educational Observatory in the Sierra Nevada, a unique teaching tool.
- Recently he has put Rancho Cordova on the map - of the universe - by arranging for Cordova High School students to work on projects that have them reaching for the stars. Partnering with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration, students at Cordova High are active in making near earth object confirmation observations and finding new asteroids.
- Under Glenn's leadership, students have also partnered with Portal of Supernova, a project run by the European Hands-On Universe program, in which students take images of recent supernovae, determine their brightness magnitudes and record the data at a central receiving station. The data is used to help scientists determine the properties of the exploding star.
- A new partnership is with GalaxyZoo.org. Students will attain a goal of classifying 5,000 new galaxies by the end of the school year - making a major contribution to astronomy!
Glenn's work has earned him the respect of teachers and scientists around the world, but he is also appreciated close to home. He has been recognized as one of the 10 Best Teachers in Sacramento County, was Cordova High School Teacher of the Year, Folsom Cordova District Teacher of the Year
among other honors.
Now, we join the community of Glenn Reagan admirers, as well.
Glenn Reagan, you inspire your students to reach for the stars.
In doing so, we are inspired, as well.
"Teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say."
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