South Fayette biology teacher wins statewide award
Jeff McGowan is a “self-confessed biology geek.”
As a teacher at South Fayette High School, McGowan believes his passion for biology – a topic that’s not often popular – can be contagious.
“As a teacher, you set the mood and the tone in the classroom. It’s a challenging topic to begin with,” McGowan said. “I love biology; I get excited about biology, and I think that’s why I’ve been able to teach all levels of biology. I do get excited about it, and I do think that affects the mood and the tone in the classroom and rubs off on the students.”
Photo courtesy of Jeff McGowan
Photo courtesy of Jeff McGowan
Jeff McGowan
McGowan, who has been teaching at South Fayette since 2003, was recently recognized by the National Association of Biology Teachers as Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Biology Teacher for the 2016-17 school year. He attended the NABT’s annual conference in St. Louis in early November to receive his award.
“I’ve never attended a conference, so I was very excited to go to the conference and work with other biology teachers,” McGowan said. “They had speakers I was able to go listen to on current topics in biology, which was excellent.”
While McGowan has been recognized for his teaching in the past by the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon Sigma Chi, he said this award is “special.”
“Part of the prestige in this one is it’s within my field,” McGowan said. “Biology is my area of expertise, so to be recognized from this organization in my content area is definitely what sets it apart in my mind from anything I’ve received in the past.”
McGowan was told by the NABT that what set his application apart were his letters of recommendations.
“The support that I got across the board from my superintendent to one of my colleagues to parents of students and students was humbling,” McGowan said. “As an educator, that’s what I’ve prided myself on–keeping everyone invested. Yes, I work with kids every day, but I want to work with parents, colleagues and the administration at South Fayette. I was happy to hear what set me apart was the letters of recommendation.”
Principal Aaron Skrbin said McGowan’s award is another example of the level of academics at the district.
“I think this is an affirmation of an expectation of excellence in everything that we do. This is a very pleasant recognition of that effort,” Skrbin said.
Skrbin said what he’s recognized with McGowan as an educator is his passion.
“Any good teacher is going to care about what they do, about their kids and about what they’re teaching,” Skrbin said. “I think one of the things that stands out is how passionate Jeff is about teaching and teaching biology. He has a real talent for it. He loves what he does.”