Brewer teacher wins ‘outstanding’ honor

BREWER – The National Association of Biology Teachers, in conjunction with Prentice Hall, has presented William LoPotro of Brewer High School with the 2002 Outstanding Biology Teacher Award.

Since 1961, the honor has been given to a teacher in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico on the basis of teaching ability and strengths, experience, inventiveness, initiative and cooperation with the school and the community.

LoPotro received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Florida State University. The Winterport resident has been teaching college preparatory biology and advanced placement biology at Brewer High School for 28 years.

LoPotro uses a variety of activities outside the classroom to motivate his students and encourage academic excellence, including an annual climb of Mount Katahdin, a canoe trip to study the ecology of the Penobscot River and labs conducted at the University of Maine.

LoPotro was presented with a certificate at the NABT national convention in Cincinnati, along with a pair of precision binoculars from Prentice Hall and a microscope from Leica Microsystems.

In 2001, Bowdoin College selected LoPotro as a distinguished high school educator. He received a lifetime distinguished teaching award from Brewer High School in 2002 and was a regional finalist for the 2003 Maine Teacher of the Year Award.