Lake City teacher wins state award

Mike Clabby wasn’t having the best day Wednesday. The computer graphics and multimedia teacher at Lake City High School encountered some difficulty with technology. One computer was acting up, and a computer mouse went haywire on him.

Lucky for Clabby, the state Department of Education was about to brighten his day. At a surprise school assembly, he was honored as the 2007 Idaho Teacher of the Year.

It was the fifth time in the past eight years the honor went to a teacher from the Coeur d’Alene School District.

“I’m shocked,” Clabby, still shaking slightly, said after the assembly.

The announcement was a surprise to most everyone in the school. Students and faculty were told there would be an assembly but not what it was about. Clabby said he realized something was up when Principal John Brumley motioned for him to come forward and he saw his wife, Cindy, and son, Casey, enter the gymnasium.

“I had to keep this a secret for a week,” said Cindy Clabby, a fourth-grade teacher at Garwood Elementary School. “Do you know how hard that is?”

Along with the prestigious title, Clabby received a new Dell notebook computer, $1,000 to use however he likes, $14,000 to spend on technology at the school and a new wireless mouse – a perfect replacement for the one that broke.

“The Lord works in strange ways,” Clabby said.

He’ll also have the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., to meet President Bush and will move on to the National Teacher of the Year competition, along with the winners in all other states.

Clabby also received an award named after educator Thomas Bell, plus another $2,000 to use on technology and training at the school.

Students from his advanced multimedia class stood by with video cameras in hand, documenting the celebration.

“He’s one of the coolest teachers ever,” senior Jamari Lawson said.

Lawson said he has taken as many courses as he can from Clabby since transferring to Lake City three years ago. He credits the teacher with sparking his interest in film.

“He actually gave me my eye for that type of stuff,” Lawson said.

Clabby has been with the Coeur d’Alene district since 1975. He taught history at Lakes Middle School for 22 years before moving to Lake City in 1997. He’s known for his enthusiasm and ability to connect with students, and for zany antics in class.

This isn’t the first time his teaching skills have been honored. He was named the Coeur d’Alene School District’s Teacher of the Year last year and Lake City’s Teacher of the Year in 1999.

As a history teacher, Clabby liked to dress up as the historical figures his students were studying. The multimedia and computer graphics curriculum he teaches now doesn’t have much room for full costumes, but he still likes to dress a little wild every now and then, just to get his students’ attention.

“I think the key thing with Mike is he reinvented himself,” Brumley said. “In the span of the 28 or 30 years since he started, he’s become a leader in technology.”

Math teacher and student council adviser Deanne Clifford said her son Doug took courses from Clabby while at Lake City and that no matter what type of day Doug was having, Clabby could make him feel better.

“He said, ‘Hey, things get bad, then you get Clabby and things get better,’ ” Clifford said.

“(Clabby’s) a born nurturer,” she continued. “I don’t think there’s any kid in the school that hasn’t had Clabby. Everybody wants to take his class.”

Lake City senior Irene Watkins said it was Clabby who inspired her to pursue a career as a graphic designer.

“Even when he’s having a bad day, he’s always happy,” Watkins said. “He’s just really excited about his job.”