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Ohio's public schools serve 1.6 million children - 90 percent of students in the state! What happens in the classroom has impacts far beyond the walls of the K-12 school building or higher ed lecture hall. So, on behalf of the 120,000 members of the Ohio Education Association, we're taking a deeper dive into some of the many education issues facing our students, educators, and communities. Originally launched in 2021 as Education Matters, Public Education Matters is your source for insightful conversations with the people who shape the education landscape in Ohio. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on Public Education Matters? Email us at educationmatters@ohea.org
Intro - Various members and students speaking 0:08
Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters because every student matters. Education Matters. Public Education Matters because it is the foundation of our democracy. Public Education Matters because we are stronger when we speak in one voice. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters. This is Public Education Matters, brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.
Katie Olmsted 0:41
Welcome back to public Education Matters. I'm Katie Olmsted, and I'm part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association, and it's 120,000 members across the state. These are teachers, education support professionals, higher ed faculty members and more, who have been called to the education profession by an unequivocal commitment to students' learning, wellbeing, and potential. But not every person in Ohio's public schools today may have felt that calling at the beginning of their career arcs. Take 2024 Ohio Teacher of the Year Mark Lowrie, for example. He teaches Broadcast Journalism at Gahanna Lincoln High School in central Ohio, building that program into an absolute powerhouse. Like, it's regarded as one of the very best programs in the country, no joke. Lincoln Live, the school's live newscast has been honored with all sorts of regional and national awards, including when it led the nation with three national student Emmys in 2022. Lowrie helped build the TV program at Amherst Steele High School into an award winning program in the same way before he became a Gahanna-Jefferson Education Association member. But before that, he was a TV sports producer, getting his start at Channel 6 in Columbus, making $5.50 an hour part time and answering phones at the company ADP for a second job so we could get benefits. He moved to another Columbus TV station for a few years. And then a dream job opened up at 19 News in Cleveland, a hometown station for the Bay Village High School grad. Take a listen to some of Mark Lowrie's conversation with Ohio Schools magazine editor Julie Newhall about what happened next, and what eventually led him to the classroom and to his current role as 2024 Ohio Teacher of the Year.
Mark Lowrie 2:46
My whole life, all I wanted to do was cover the Cleveland Browns. And a job opened up and I applied for it and I got it. Like, I'm going to be a producer in Cleveland covering the Browns, which was a dream for me. And two months after I got to Cleveland, the Browns announced they're moving to Baltimore to become the Ravens. And for like another two years I hung in there. But over that two years, working in sports became work. And it never had been work before. And I thought the more you excel at this, the more you're going to work weekends, the more it's going to feel like work and you want to be a sports fan. And during that time at Channel 19 I started volunteering coaching football at my old high school at Bay High School. And my old coach Tom Kaiser was still the head coach there. And I absolutely loved it. I was only there on Mondays and Tuesdays because those were my off days. And I would use vacation days or comp time on Fridays. So I could be at some of the games. And I did that for about a year and a half. And one day he just said you know, high schools are starting to add TV stations. You seem to love this, maybe you could teach television and be a coach. And I said, I'm not going back to high school. I don't want to be a teacher. He said think about it. And so I went home I talked to my stepdad, Kurt Cruz, who was a retired teacher. And he said Mark, I never made a million dollars a year but I always look forward to Mondays more than Fridays. I started thinking, Hmm, I mean, I could love my job again. And I can love what I'm doing and I could still maybe coach football. And so he introduced me to a guy at Westlake High School named Tony Hodie. And Tony had started one of the first TV stations in the in the state at Westlake High School. And I saw it was a possibility. And so within a few months I went back to college. I got my teaching degree and my master's was at the University of Akron. Took me a couple years to do it. And during one of my field experiences, you know, I was - I had to pay a mortgage, and so I had some roommates and I worked for my uncle a sales job where I called on high schools. And I called on Amherst Steele High School for sales call. And when I was there, I said, Don't you guys have a TV station here? And they said, Yeah, you want to meet the teacher? I meet the teacher, I go down the hall. Within six months, I'm doing a field experience there. Meanwhile, Channel 10 in Columbus called me and said, you want your old job back? We'll pay you double what we paid you two years ago to come back. And I said, okay, but I'm going to be a teacher. And they said, Great, give us two years, we'll pay for you to finish college, your masters in your teaching license. We'll pay for it. Come back, give us two years. I said, Okay. And exactly one year later, Amherst called and said, Hey, Mr. Cotton is taking early retirement. The job is open right now. Are you interested? And I said, Absolutely. And so I moved back to Cleveland into my old house that I was renting out. And I taught at Amherst for 18 years. And I never thought I would leave there. I loved it. I built a program. We were very successful. We represented the school, it was a great atmosphere. And I planned on retiring from there. But then I started dating someone in Gahanna, Ohio. And for six years, we went back and forth. And eventually a job opened up at Gahanna Lincoln with an existing TV station that the teacher that had started it was retiring. And it was three miles from the house. My future stepdaughters, not at the time, would come through the school at some point. And it just seemed like the perfect match. And so I gave up all of that to start over again. And we literally started over again when I got hired here, because the previous teacher had left some money in our account, knowing that the studio needed updated. And so we updated the studios as the first thing we did. And so now I've been here at Lincoln for five years. We took up the program, like I said it needed it needed to rebuild, I think is a good way to put it. I mean, it was established, but it needed a facelift. And we've grown it into the most successful high school program in the country in the last five years. And I only base that there are schools out there, I think that are better than us. When I see their stuff. I'm like we can't, they're better than us. But in the competitions that we entered against each other in these other schools last year, last year, we beat them all. Last year, you know, we won the National Student Emmy for Best Newscast. The other thing we do is a sports show, we won the National Student Emmy for sports show, which I never dreamed. I never dreamed we'd win either one of them. But to win them within 15 minutes of each other was the white whale that I had chased my whole career. And to see the kids and their excitement, and their celebration, and their hugging, and their crying, and what it meant to them as a teacher, there's no better day in my career because their work paid off. This is my 23rd year teaching. And I love it probably more today than I ever - it just keeps going. It never ends. I still am excited to get up every day. I get here every morning. If I'm here at 6:30, I'm late, and school starts at 7:35 because the kids need to get - if they want to come in early because some kids are busy after school - if they want to come in and work before school, I'm going to be here. And I keep the studio open for two hours after school every day. And we never close the studio for lunch. We never close the studio for planning periods. There are kids in here constantly. Every day. I never leave. I haven't called in sick in over 12 years. I have a commitment and I'm here for the kids and they commit everything to me. It's the least I can do. They're willing to put in the work. They're willing to deal with the pressure. They're willing to deal with my demanding personality at times. They're willing to endure all that, I can at least be here. You know, and so I don't just take random days off. I just, it's never been my philosophy. I take personal days. Everybody takes their personal days. But I've never once in over 12 years has the alarm gone off and I didn't answer the bell. Not one time. And I'm proud of that. And through COVID I got lucky. I got COVID twice but both times were over winter break right around Christmas, so it messed up one of our Christmases, but at least I didn't have to miss school. You know, and it probably drives some people crazy that I'm that obsessive. But I demand a lot from my students, so I'm going to be here, too.
Julie Newhall 10:12
Well, backtrack a little bit and talk about changes in the way you do your work and the way you teach journalism and broadcast journalism. How has that work in your teaching changed since you first started teaching in Amherst 23 years ago?
Mark Lowrie 10:28
Oh my gosh. Well, when I got out of TV, we were still using videotapes. And so when I got to Amherst, we had VHS editing machines that the previous teacher had purchased and no one else at high schools had that. Like, we were lightyears ahead of other schools, because we had VHS tapes. And eventually, the, the demand started to be, you know, we need to start editing on computers. And I was scared to death. So they bought us seven computers. And I told the kids, I don't know how to use them. I don't know how to edit on these. And so I just was honest with the kids and the class of 2005 taught themselves how to edit and they would call me over to the computer and be like, Mr. Lowrie, look, if you do this, this happens. And I was amazed, just like they were, jus like a kid on Christmas morning. Well, the class of '06 and '07 didn't know I learned from the class of '05. Like, they all thought I was really smart. And so ever since then, it's been stay ahead of what's current. And I've really had to dedicate myself and work, because in all the technology that we have in the studio today, I've never once taken a training class. I've never been sent for PD. I've never been formally taught. It's, I've taught myself; I've done YouTube tutorials. I've met with other teachers that maybe have certain technology that we don't, and I collaborated with them. So we're a very high tech program. And so the biggest change since I became a teacher, is the technology and staying ahead. My goal has always been, I want my students to be lightyears ahead of other schools or other students, I should say, when they go to college. I want them to have a huge lead, and then let them do with it as they will. Or even if they don't major in this, and a lot of kids don't, you know, they're gonna still be ahead. Only way we can keep our lead is if I keep running as fast as I can. And so, this being the Ohio Teacher of the Year, one of the things it's done is it's opened the door for my own professional development. And we're doing this action research project through Cleveland State, the whole cohort was invited to participate. So all 11 of us. And I've been partnered with Dr. Scott Titsworth, who is the dean of the Scripps School of Journalism at OU. And we're going to examine what colleges are doing technology-wise and skill-wise, and what would give a high school student an advantage when they walk onto a college campus. So then I can even adjust what we're doing and improve what we're doing to better prepare the kids. And part of the action research project is I'm going to go visit three or four of what I think are the best schools in the country, and spend two days at each one learning technology, methods, organizational, my own professional development, and I'm going to offer obviously, anything I have to them. And so I'm gonna start collaborating, because I can't just collaborate with someone down the hall. There's no one else in the building that does what I do. And so, and I'm not just going to go to any school to learn, I want to go to the best schools and I want to see what they're doing better than us. And I want to come back and try to do it better than them. And I'm going to give them everything I have. Let them do whatever they want to do with it. But that's it. Technology. Number one, a-number one without anything close. You know, the kids have changed, but not that much. You know, when I first started teaching, I was 34. I wasn't a rookie right out of college at age 22. I was 34 when I started teaching, and I thought well, I'm 16 years older than kids and at the time, it seemed like some huge gap. Well now as I start this year, I'm 39 years older than my students. And so to stay cool, to stay hip, to stay connected, I have to work a little harder. We have a group of 20 kids in the Lincoln Live class who are committed to bettering their school and they work their tails off to do it. We produce a live 11 minute newscast four days a week that's seen by our entire school. So at 9:15, a bell rings and we have an 11 minute opportunity to make an impact on our school. We cover school events, we do important school news, we do cultural celebrations. If there's an issue at school, we'll get one of the administrators to come on live and address it. If there's something, a great achievement, a national merit semifinalist, or students that have earned associate's degrees while in high school, we cover it all. We do 44 minutes of live news every week. That's not the only thing, though. Like, we have currently, last time I checked, it was right around between 130 and 140 students in our TV program. So I teach Lincoln Live in the morning. But I currently have like 63 kids in the intro program, which is a one semester class. And then at the end of the day, I have a sports broadcasting class. And that class produces the Lincoln Sports Zone, which is a 20 to 30 minute show that we do every other week. And that's scores and highlights and interviews. And it's loud. And it's, it's sports, it's fun. And so it's not just Lincoln Live. So we also next semester, have a film and documentary production class, where they'll do exactly that. They script and shoot short films, and they actually tackle some serious topics doing documentaries. So next semester, I'll have 20 Lincoln Live kids, 40-something intro students, 24 film students, and next semester is 24 sports students. And so it's all day every day, and it's keeping track of equipment and batteries, and microphones and all that. And they're all learning different skill sets. And it's all simultaneous. And somehow it all comes together, we just never stop. And everything we do is to serve our school, and our community, and everybody within it. I've done over 3000 shows in my career, and I still love it. I get chills, I get butterflies. Every show and that bell rings, it's new, because it is new, it's different. It's different. No two days are ever the same in here, and the opportunities we get and the excitement that we feel, and the privilege of going out and doing the shows. I mean, there's nothing better. I still freaking love it. Every day we do it. It never gets boring or repetitive. You know, I had, when I first got to Gahanna, we were building a program. We had 27 Kids in the whole TV program. And so my first year here at Gahanna, I taught nine speech classes, and only three TV classes. And they said, if you get the numbers up, you'll just teach TV. And I said, I will. Yeah, okay, that's a deal. Well then COVID came, and we're trying to like build a program and get kids into or whatever. So it's been a long haul for the first now entering my fifth year. But I don't have to teach speech anymore. When I was teaching five periods at the same class every day, like a lot of teachers do, I was losing my mind. And here now I get to play TV every day. Like, and we get to make an impact. And we get to give kids skills, whether they major in this or not. Like, it's real life skills. It's soft skills, it's going up to an adult and asking for an interview and then asking questions. It's being mature and handling yourself and conducting yourself and representing the station when you're out shooting stuff for us. Everybody knows who we are now. So there's an expectation to me, and the collective responsibility to your classmates, and the quality control and the demands of me, because we just can't put anything out there. And, you know, I don't care what they major in. A lot of them will go on and major in this. But if I can teach a kid that this is a lot of work and this is a lot of stress, this is a lot of time demands, and you don't like it, you don't love it, don't major in it. Go into something else. But they'll take the skills. I have so many students, former students who are working for companies, but they're doing all the video work on top of their job. They're doing they're handling social media accounts at the company that they work for. They're, oh, we're doing corporate videos. And yeah, I have a sales job or whatever. But I'm also helping with this. And so I think it's an accurate and a bad question for people to ask in general, like, well, how many of your students go on to major in this? Because my answer is, I really don't care. I'm gonna prepare the kids who do and those who don't, they want to be teachers? They're gonna get up and be confident and have technical skills and be able to present and handle themselves in front of a classroom. Like it really doesn't matter. And so, yeah, that's what we do.
Julie Newhall 19:58
And wanted to ask you, I think you've talked a little bit about about the lessons you teach your students and why that matters and how your background is helping them to be successful and plan for their own careers. What's the most important lesson your students have taught you?
Mark Lowrie 20:16
Hmm. No one's asked me that one yet. I think what I've learned the most from my students is compassion. Every kid's got a different story. Every kid is facing something that I may know, I may not know. And every day is an opportunity to unlock those secrets or to unlock - find that path. And I have a genuine interest in the kids themselves. I had a professor at the University of Akron, Dr. Amy Smith, who taught me when I was becoming a teacher, that you have to take an authentic interest in your students. It's not enough just to teach them what you're teaching them. They have to know you care. You have to go to their games, you have to go to their plays, you have to go to their concerts. If they don't, they're not involved, and they work at the local fast food restaurant, you should stop in when they're working and order something. Like, they have to know. And in return, they're going to work for you, because they're going to know you care. And I have carried that advice. Every day in my career. The kids are what drive me. They've taught me so much from I say compassion, enthusiasm, excitement, dedication, hard work. I had an old high school teacher, when I told him I was going to be his teacher's name is Dick Scott at Bay High school. And Dick Scott said, Mark, you don't understand this now, but you will someday: the kids will keep you young. And I just ran into Dick Scott about three weeks ago. And I said, you don't remember telling me this 25 years ago, but I understand it. I don't feel like I act my age. I don't view my job like I've been doing this forever. I kind of inherit the enthusiasm and the excitement of kids, because the kids do keep me young. And so compassion because I want to help them in any way I can. I listen. I have kids that will, hey, can I talk for a minute? And I try to build that atmosphere so it's comfortable for them. And enthusiasm for what I'm doing because I can't help but be enthusiastic when I'm around them. You know, it does rub off on me as a as a teacher. I had a radio interview recently, and they said Where does being the Ohio Teacher of the Year rank in your professional career? I said, second. I said I, the day that my students won three national Emmys on one day - I'm a teacher. Like, I can never be better than that. And so a personal award like this is an absolute highlight of my life and my career. But as a teacher, that day has to win, you know. Nothing can beat that November day last year, because that's the ultimate that's learning. That's kids that's their success. It's then mine, you know, but it all starts with them.
Katie Olmsted 23:42
Now, those are just excerpts from the full interview with Mark Lowrie for Ohio Schools. Keep an eye on your mailbox for the December/January issue of OEA's magazine, where Mark Lowrie will be featured as the cover story. And if you still have your August/September issue handy, you may want to flip back through the pages of that one. You may recall seeing an ad in there for something called VESi. Nick Gurich, OEA's Director of Education Policy Research and Member Advocacy, or EPRMA, joins us now to explain how it works, and who can take advantage of the offer.
Nick Gurich 24:14
Well, the VESi program allows OEA members to get nine graduate credit hours for only $200. So these credit hours are issued through Ursuline college and they're issued on an Ursuline transcript. And there's no additional costs. So once you sign up, you have one year to complete up to nine credit hours, three courses, and it's only $200. And so it's really significantly more cost effective than other professional development opportunities, particularly ones that grant graduate credit which allows you to then move on the salary schedule.
Katie Olmsted 24:50
That hits the next question I have for you is why is this such an important opportunity for OEA members?
Nick Gurich 24:56
Well, it really, it results, it can result in OEA members moving up the salary schedule and, and being paid more. And so, you know, for $200 to get the opportunity to do that for grad credit is really a tremendous value. And that's what members keep telling us and why they've been so excited about this. But also, it's another way that OEA members can access professional learning opportunities. And so the content, there's 36 different courses that are available in this system. And it really covers a lot of different topics. And so not only does it help members to move on the salary schedule, but it also as it should, helps them to become better educators.
Katie Olmsted 25:37
This is a relatively new project and a new partnership. How did this come about?
Nick Gurich 25:42
A couple of years ago, Mick, who is the CEO of VESi reached out to us and had this opportunity and we get a lot of different things that come through. And so it kind of caught our attention. And I've had multiple conversations with Mick. He gave me some background on what this is. You know, I think one thing that people think when they see this as it can't be real, because it is so much more affordable than than other professional development opportunities. But it is and Mick has a long history of working in higher education, partnered with Ursuline college who was a very well respected college in the state of Ohio, and so we put it through a lot of vetting. We probably went through six or nine months of vetting with us and with OEA staff. We also reached out to other NEA state affiliates who have used the program and determined it was a great opportunity. And I think we were right.
Katie Olmsted 26:34
It is a great opportunity just for OEA members, though, right? Not just for any educator.
Nick Gurich 26:39
Yeah, so it's really a, it's a member benefit. So when you apply to the program, you do have to provide your membership ID. And so we do confirm that people are OEA members, and yes, it is a it's a member benefit and only open to OEA members. And OEA does not retain any of the money from this. So the $200 is split between VESi and Ursuline. College, and then we just at OEA help facilitate the signup. So it really is a great example of the value of being an OEA member.
Katie Olmsted 27:13
And for $200, you can't beat that deal. That is a heck of a deal.
Nick Gurich 27:16
Yeah, it's really I mean, I had a member recently told me that for something for a similar amount they spent over $2,000. And you know, in some places of the state, it's it's harder to access this type of professional development. And so it makes it so that no matter where you are in the state of Ohio, you can access quality professional development for just 200 bucks.
Katie Olmsted 27:39
The courses are fully online, but they may not necessarily be a good fit for everyone. What can you tell me about what members need to know before they sign up?
Nick Gurich 27:47
Well, the one thing that members should know before they sign up is to be aware of how professional development works in your local. So if you're a certificated member, if you have a teaching certificate, there is a lot of local control in your district about how you are relicensed and then also a separate set of rules about how you move on the salary schedule. So you really need to make sure that you're working in coordination with your local professional development committee. I do know in a small handful of cases, we do have locals where they limit grad credit to a prescribed list of institutions of higher education. And so if that's the case in your local, you need to make sure that Ursuline is on that list. If not, you might want to work towards getting them on that list. But I would recommend not just signing up immediately. You know, please do go check with your professional development committee, your LPDC, and make sure that you're - that this is going to work for what you're trying to do with it.
Katie Olmsted 28:43
Once educators have checked to make sure this is a good opportunity for them. What's their next step? How do they get signed up?
Nick Gurich 28:49
So there are a few different ways that you can get signed up. So if you want to go directly to the portal that we have on our website, it's ohea.org/vesi. We have also created a new tab on the OEA website, and then go on the resources tab on the top of the site, you'll see that there's a resource called professional learning and training opportunities. And that actually lists out a number of different opportunities and trainings that we have, including our Summer Leadership Academy and our Advocacy and Organizing Institute that's coming up in February, but you'll find a link there. The ohea.org/vesi site also has a really helpful short video that explains how the program works and what you need to do to sign up for it. And also has a link to vesties FAQ that it's going to answer a lot of questions about how the courses are developed. And, you know, various things that have come up around it.
Katie Olmsted 29:47
Nick, it sounds like there are so many great opportunities for members all year round. Thank you so much for helping explain some of them.
Nick Gurich 29:53
Yeah, thanks. We're really excited to have this
Katie Olmsted 30:00
You can find links to learn more about VESI in the show notes for this episode, and you can find links to check out some of the amazing work Ohio Teacher of the Year Mark Lowrie's students have been doing. While you're in the show notes. Make sure you subscribe to Public Education Matters wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss an episode in the future. New episodes drop every other Thursday morning. Until next time, stay well and remember, in Ohio, Public Education Matters.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai