Sean Deal, educator from the Gesu School in Philadelphia, has won the “Hero as Teacher” award. Along with eight other teachers in the city, he was recognized at a banquet at the National Liberty Museum last month. They were all nominated due to a compilation of admirable attributes including how long each teacher has excelled, volunteerism outside the school, creativity in the classroom and in coursework, conquering of institutional problems, efforts in anti-bully and conflict resolution initiatives and how they serve as role models to their peers. Museum officials and educators from the tri-state area also judged them on leadership and excellence.
The “Heroes” will receive a free family membership to the museum, featured placement in the museum’s “Teacher as Heroes Exhibit,” a free guided tour of the museum for their class, inclusion in the Museum Act 48 Teacher Training Workshop of their choice for free and more museum related activities. Deal was recognized for his dedication to the enrichment of his students. As a physical education teacher at Gesu for 10 years, he has given a lot of his free time to being involved in the extracurricular activities and sports using his athletic background to end confrontations and issues. Overcoming his own learning disability and challenges, he now gives advice to his students even after they move on to high school.
“Our honorees excel at preparing the next generation of Philadelphians and beyond for future challenges,” said National Liberty Museum CEO Gwen Borowsy. “All teachers make a footprint on a student’s life, but our winners make a deeper one than others. We are grateful to them for going the extra mile beyond the classroom – with others. We are grateful to them for going the extra mile beyond the classroom – with creativity, dedication and inspiration.”