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Thursday, June 08, 2006

Bobby O'Gurek - One of My Favorite Students of All Time




In 1992 - Bobby O'Gurek was in my seventh grade science class. He was a good student. Not only did I teach Bobby about earth science - but Bobby taught me about life. Bobby had a Mac. He used to use that Mac Computer to do his homework. Bobby used to use a stylus attached to his head to type.

Bobby was the catalyst for a grant that I wrote that was funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. This was back before Al Gore invented the internet. One of the main ideas in our grant was to set up a system so that Bobby could interact using the computer with other students. We set up a Computer Bulletin Board System in my classroom. Students were able to hook their computer up to a 1200 baud modem and dial into the main computer on my classroom desk. Then other students and teachers could exchange ideas and mail in this manner. It was slow - and only one student at a time could use the system - but it got money for us to buy several Mac Classics with shoulder bags that kids could take home to use. This was before the laptop computer was invented. Boy - we had great times "talking" to each other.

Fast forward to today. My ichat window on my computer was open this afternnon - and all of a sudden an Instant Message came in from "spins@ptd.net." There was only one "Spins" in my life and I knew who it was.

Bobby recently graduated from college with a degree as a Computer Specialist in Web Design. Bobby designs web pages - http://www.evansprivateparadise.com/- here is some of his work. He is 26 now - he looks the same but taller. He has a degree but he is just as proud to be selected as a Trustee of the Summit Hill Fire Company.

As I was saying - Bobby taught me a lot about life. I am so proud to be his student.

  • See Page Designed by Bobby
  • 1 comment:

    Anonymous said...

    Hi Harry, Thank you for this great story about us. You are one of my all time favorite teachers. I remember everything you wrote and we had fun times together in middle school like the portable planetariun that you set up in the classroom and the computer bulletin board system. I will never forget those great memories. THANK YOU BUDDY!