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NATION'S TOP TEACHER TELLS JMU GRADS: 'LEARNING NEVER STOPS' | |
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From: Media Relations December 15, 2000HARRISONBURG, Va. – Philip Bigler, the 1998 National Teacher of the Year, told James Madison University graduates at Friday's winter commencement that graduation marks the start of an educated life.  JMU President Linwood H. Rose conferred 676 degrees – 575 undergraduate and 101 graduate degrees – at the afternoon ceremony in the JMU Convocation Center. Bigler, a JMU graduate who was awarded the nation's top educator honor by President Clinton at the White House in April 1998, said the most important thing he learned at James Madison was that education does not end with graduation. Phil Bigler speaks at the Dec. 15 commencement."In fact, what you learn now, after college, is as important as what you have been learning during your formal studies," he said. "I have every confidence that JMU has prepared you for this exciting challenge."Bigler, who has taught history for 23 years in Washington, D.C.,-area schools, told the graduates that the good work of the world is only accomplished by people who dedicate themselves to the job at hand. "Weeks, months, years pass, but the good workman knows he is gambling on an ultimate achievement, which cannot be measured in time spent," he said. "Responsible men and women leap to the challenge of jobs that require enormous dedication and years to fulfill, and are happiest when they are so involved." The information revolution necessitates a rigorous mind, Bigler told listeners, noting that a single issue of The New York Times today contains more information than a 17th century Englishman would be exposed to in a lifetime. "Regardless of your job or career, you need to always be studying, and reading books of significance remains the singular key to knowledge and enlightenment," Bigler said. "No computer program, no Web page, no movie can replace the experience of reading a book." Bigler recounted that James Michener conducted hundreds of three-hour interviews and wrote some 3 million words in the five years it took him to complete his 1959 novel, Hawaii. "For many of us, to write such an epic would be the accomplishment of a lifetime, but Michener wrote dozens of such books because he was a curious man and believed that we learn only things that require us to work very hard," Bigler said. "I wish you in your life, as James Michener would, many challenges and great tasks," Bigler said. "I have every confidence that, in the ensuing years, you will achieve much success, and it is my fondest hope that decades from now, when you reflect upon all that you have achieved and accomplished in your life, you will remember that it all began here at James Madison University." Bigler holds a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in secondary education/history from JMU, and a master's degree in American studies from the College of William and Mary. He currently teaches history at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria. He also was Virginia's 1997 Teacher of the Year # # #Written by: Bill Gentry, University Relations |
 
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Publisher: Media Relations For Information Contact: JMU News Bureau |
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