Touching the future

Dave Ellis honored, but remembers his true mission

By Karin Burke | The Daily Journal

Published Wednesday, January 31, 2007

David Ellis, fifth-grade science teacher at Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, was honored as Fergus Falls teacher of the Year in November.

Now, Ellis will vie for the Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award along with 131 teacher from across the state, with the announcement planned in May.

Ellis said that the nomination is “an honor. And humbling, when one considers the number of teachers across the state”.

Ellis has been teaching in Fergus Falls his entire 34-year career. He has been at PWLC for four. He proposed the idea of a special, hands-on, outdoor learning environment to the district superintendent in 2001. In the fall of 2002, his ideas were proposed to the Learning Center. By 2003, the PWLC had two teachers on site, two teachers in the middle school, and 50 students learning with their hands, eyes, ears and noses.

Ellis has a passion for both the learning center and for the students who study there. The experience has taught him much about the learning process, and much about how to teach effectively.

“I’ve realized that this is what children need, not something that is a nice perk. There is a real, physical and emotional need that is answered by this kind of schoolroom,” he said.

Ellis expressed hope that he, and other educators who have shared the PWLC experience, can communicate what they have learned to other educators. His goal for upcoming years is “to take this idea, share it with other schools, explore with them how these ideas can enrich and enliven how we educate”.

The tight limits on education spending, which are prone to stay within the strictures of traditional education, and rarely if ever see surplus dollars, will necessarily influence and form Ellis’ goal.

Ellis speaks more often of his students and of the PWLC than he does of his own teaching philosophy or accomplishments.

“It’s an honor to represent this group of people (teachers),” he said. “We are heros to many different people. Not just the students, but the families, the communities, that we work in. I’m delighted to know that I’ve been nominated. But it is more important to me to remember what I do. I teach. I touch the future.”