Page 17 - Priorities #50 2011-June/July

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As the class of 2011 bids farewell to Priory, an- Still, what he learned there really stuck with
other transition is taking place: Father Maurus Nemeth is saying goodbye the classroom after more than four decades of teaching. But let it be known: he is not retiring.
“I don’t use the words I am retiring,” Fa- ther Maurus says firmly. “I don’t believe in re- tiring. I am switching tracks, as we all do over the course of our lives. First we switch from slower tracks to faster ones, and then from fast- er tracks to slower and slower and slower. This is one of those junctions when I am switching tracks.”
Father Maurus has taught biology at Priory
since 1968 and headed the science department
for over thirty years. “Teaching was always my
primary joy,” he says. When asked his favorite
part of teaching, he doesn’t hesitate. “Being in the classroom with the kids, interacting with them,” he says. “I love the challenges that come with teaching. I love my students.”
His enthusiasm was evident. “Teaching is what he loves,” says Mark Lewis, ‘97. “You can tell that when you see him in the class- room.” Zoltan Klarik, ‘04, vividly remembers Father Maurus’s pas- sion for science, teaching and his students. “You could tell he truly cared about the students and that they understood the material. You could feel his excitement about the subject matter.” Pablo Avalos, ‘02, echoes, “You could see the joy he got from teaching.”
Part of that joy was a passion for science. “In his class,” explains Klarik, “biology came alive. All his experience and knowledge just vibrated in the air whenever he was lecturing. It was apparent that he loved science—so much that it actually made you love it also.” Klarik went on to medical school after Priory, and he now works at the University of Debrecen Medical Health Science Center in Hun- gary, where he is a postgraduate lecturer and Ph.D. student in mi- crosurgery.
Pablo Avalos was similarly inspired. He’s now a general practi- tioner doing cell therapy research for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “Father Maurus is one of the biggest reasons I became a doctor,” he says. “He instilled his love for science in me through every class and every lab assignment. He became my mentor, pushing me to chase my dreams and supporting me in every way.” Mark Lewis, on the other hand, already knew he wanted to become a doctor when he came to Father Maurus’s class.
him. “Even when I was in medical school they mentioned concepts that I remembered discuss- ing in Fr. Maurus’ biology class,” says Lewis, now an Internist in Mountain View.
Science was at the forefront of Father Mau- rus’s classes, but there was also room for fun. “He was strict,” explains Klarik, “but he knew how to have a good time.” When the phone rang in class, for example, Father Maurus liked to joke that it was probably one of his girlfriends. Pablo Avalos remembers his conta- gious laugh and impressive physical strength. “We all tried to beat him in arm wrestling, but we couldn’t,” he says.
Father Maurus feels strongly about the col- laborative nature of education. “Yes, we are teachers in the classroom,” he says, “but education is a much more complex, much more beautiful experience than, I, teacher, tell you, and you, students, learn from me. We learn together. We learn from each other. I always tell my students, I learn from them as much as
they learn from me. We do it together.”
He also believes that learning should be experiential. “I al-
ways try to tell my students, education doesn’t come from books. Books are necessary instruments that information is compiled in, and sometimes it’s good to have it in a written form, but education primarily comes from interaction. Interaction with one another, and with the wider world.”
To that end, Father Maurus continually sought to bring his stu- dents out into that wider world. Together, they visited Monterey Bay and farther-flung locales such as South and Central America, Australia, and the Galapagos Islands. Atop a filing cabinet in his of- fice sits a favorite photo from one of those exotic trips. In it, Father Maurus is wearing a baseball cap and a giant grin, and a monkey is perched on his head.
Those student trips were the highlight of his teaching career. “I love to travel,” he says. “I wanted my students to experience the reality of the rainforest, the Great Barrier Reef, and to see the demise which can come upon these tremendous gifts of God if we don’t take care of them.” He always arranged for students to spend time living with, eating with and interacting with indigenous people. “Those experiences,” Father Maurus says, pausing, “those are the precious parts of education.”
When asked his favorite part of teaching, he doesn’t hesitate. “Being in the classroom with the kids, interacting with them,” he says. “I love the challenges that come with teaching. I love my students.”