Bill Nye the Science Guy helps honor 'America's Favorite Teacher' in Newark
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Bill Nye the Science Guy visited a school in New Jersey to honor a second-grade teacher in Newark.
Sussex Avenue School second grade teacher Jonathan Koch was recently named America's Favorite Teacher by Colossal.
Nye handed Koch the award during an assembly at the Sussex Avenue School.
Koch was selected in Colossal's teacher competition, celebrating exceptional educators.
"I make sure I use a lot of hands-on lessons and make sure that the students are seeing what's happening in front of them," Koch said.
He was selected from thousands of educators across the United States and Canada.
Nye was delighted by Koch's influence on young minds.
"Getting people excited about science in second grade is a great value. I certainly was very excited about science when I was in second grade," Nye said.
Nye used the school even to encourage kids to 'change the world,' and many were thrilled to hear from the person who made science interesting.
"It's pretty cool to have someone that famous come to a school like this. I'd never thought I'd have the opportunity to ask somebody like that a question," a student said.
Koch received a $25,000 check for being America's Favorite Teacher and says the key to success in his classroom is curiosity and not being afraid to fail.
"I try to embrace that failure, we try to show perseverance at Sussex Avenue School and that's something that I like to take from my background in snowboarding and skateboarding, where I fall down a lot but I do make sure I get back up," Koch said.
Koch was also awarded a feature in Reader's Digest and a vacation to Hawaii to see the volcanoes up close.
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