MANCOS HIGH SCHOOL Principal Gary Hill stands in front of Mancos High School after hearing about being chosen a finalist as one of the top 10 National Football League Teacher of the Year award program. Hill, starting his third year as principal, has been at MHS for the past 21 years. He has coached the boys basketball team for all of those years.

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Gary Hill, principal of Mancos Senior High School, was selected as one of the 10 finalists for the National Football League Teacher of the Year award. His former student, All-Pro defensive lineman Luther Elliss of the Detroit Lions, nominated him.

Mancos High School will receive a $1,000 grant from NFL Charities and Hill is eligible for the NFL Teacher of the Year honor, according to Meghan Powers, a public relations specialist with the NFL.

The National Football League announced Monday, Sept. 4, the 10 finalists for the 2001 NFL Teacher of the Year award, presented by MBNA America Bank.

"All I know about it is word of mouth," Hill said Tuesday morning. "I haven’t received anything about it. I was shocked when Tom Vaughan, Mancos Times editor, told me. Last spring I knew that I was nominated by Luther and to send in a resume and answer some questions on a questionaire. But to be chosen a finalist is really outstanding. I’m shocked and just speechless."

Hill was nominated by his former student and star athlete. Hill was selected as one of the 10 finalists for his outstanding work with his students as a coach and a teacher. He implemented the "GREAT Program," aimed towards education, training, and anti-gang violence efforts. He is a five-time winner of the Class AA San Juan Basin League Coach of the Year for boys basketball.

Elliss, a seven-year NFL veteran and 2000 All-Pro selection and University of Utah All-American, has served as a state-wide spokesman for Michigan’s Fatherhood is Forever campaign for the past three years. He has established his own foundation and is developing a literacy/fundamental reading program in Utah.

"Mr. Hill was the one that taught me to believe in my abilities," Elliss, who was quoted in a press release, said. "He was the first to make me realize that I was gifted athletically and encouraged me to be my best."

"It is important to build the correct bridges for students at an early age," Hill commented. "Establishing gang resistance programs is one way we try to accomplish this. But I have great deal of respect for Luther but I’m really speechless. I don’t get that way very often. This is nice for Mancos High School. We are proud of what we have here. We have super kids, the RE-6 school board is outstanding, and we have great community support. This has been a good place for me and family. I would not have traded my 21 years here for any place."

Each of the finalists’ schools will receive $1,000 grants from NFL Charities and will also be eligible to win the monthly and national NFL Teacher of the Year award. Every month during the regular season, a panel of educators and civic leaders selects a teach to be honored from a pool of player nominations. The player presents the teacher’s school or at a home game of the nominating player. The four NFL Teachers of the Month winners each receive a $2,500 NFL cash award, and the school where the teacher and player met is awarded an additional $5,000 NFL grant.

This January, the panel names the fifth winner as the NFL Teacher of the Year to be honored at the annual AFC-NFC All-Star Game in Honolulu, Hawaii. The teacher receives a $5,000 grant and $10,000 is presented to his or her school.

The other nine finalists and NFL players who nominated them are: Marieann Borrone of Nova High School in Davie, Fla. (Autry Denson, runningback, Miami Dolphins); Shella Cantrell of Pierce Park Boise, Idaho (Jake Plummer, quarterback, Arizona Cardinals); Hal Farah of Waterford-Kettering High School in Waterford, Mi (Jim Miller, quarterback, Chicago Bears); Jane Gregory of S. Pontotoc High School in Pontotoc, MS (Wesley Walls, tight end, Carolina Pathers); Teri Harper of Tate Creek High School in Lexington, Ken (David Akers, placekicker, Philadelphia Eagles); Cornell Johnson of DeWitt Clinton High School of Bronx, N.Y. (Sam Garnes, safety, New York Giants); Alice Lachewitz of Winslow Two School of Sickerville, N.J. (Ron Dayne, runningback, New York Giants); Ann Schutt of The Valwood School of Valdosta, Ga. (Todd Peterson, kicker, Kansas City Chiefs); and Lynn Smith of Clearfield High School of Clearfield, Utah (Kevin Dyson, wide receiver, Tennessee Titans).

In 1990, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and the NFL clubs created the NFL Teacher of the Year program to honor teachers who had a positive influence on current NFL players.

"The aim of the program is to honor and recognize teachers and to encourage our young fans to think of teachers as well as athletes as role models," Tagliabue, who is also quoted in the same press release.

NFL Charities, created in 1973, is a non-profit organization created by the member clubs of the National Football League to enable the clubs to collectively make grants to charitable and worthwhile causes on the national level. Since its inception, NFL Charities has made more than $45 million in grant contributions to more than 250 different organizations.