8 minute read
A 51 -Year Adventure
By Renee Pierce
~ Winnie-the-Pooh
Since joining Fort Worth Country Day in 1969, Middle School Science Teacher Dan Bloch H’06 has journeyed through a long and memorable FWCD adventure. With 51 years of FWCD student classes to embrace and inspire, saturated and enriched by an abundance of students, peers, parents and School growth, Bloch’s personal favorites are the learning moments that stay with students. From spaghetti towers and mousetrap cars to football on the River Crest Country Club golf course, lessons at the duck pond, Fossil Rim trips, terrariums of turtles, and a python named Snavely, Bloch has given his all to connect with students and make learning an inspired activity.
A Good Teacher
Preferring to focus more on his student impact, Bloch shared his deeply rooted philosophy: “A good teacher models learning and inspires children to want to learn. The point is to help them become people who want to learn and continue to develop that on their own.”
Always believing that the material was less critical than leading students to discover their personal learning style, Bloch let the students’ exploration guide the class. Former Head of Lower School Ann Buis expanded on that: “Dan didn’t rely on textbooks to teach students. He let the kids right in the middle of whatever he had for them. His legacy is that he understands how kids learn and how to let them learn through their own deductions and connection to the lesson.”
Colleagues agree that Bloch was ahead of his time in connecting with students. Former Head Librarian Debby Jennings shared, “Dan brought some innovative ideas for Lower School teachers at the time. The walls of his classroom never bound his lessons. He fully embraced the campus as part of the learning space, and you would see his students outside collecting specimens and reading on the lawn.”
Former Upper School Science Teacher Sharon Foster H’05, who also served as Bloch’s Department Chair, applauded his work with students. “Dan did a great job with hands-on teaching and bridging students from Lower School to Middle School. Students cared for and observed living critters in his class. They dissected and analyzed owl pellets, lamb hearts, insects and more,” she noted. “I appreciated that they learned the native wildflowers of Texas, studied pond water, and examined many things that grew on campus. Dan knew how to help students explore and want to learn more.”
Bloch’s former students can attest to that. FWCD Trustee and current parent Mary Hallman Smith ’03 recalled, “Experiments, studying specimens, exploring campus plant life, reading, playing songs – he knew how to make learning fun, so we wanted to know more.”
Fondly remembering him reading A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh in class, McKenna Breedlove ’14 shared, “Mr. Bloch was amazing! He always pushed us to be better and figure things out on our own, yet reminded us he’s always there to help. His class was a safe place for a fifth-grader new to middle school, and he was a true gift to all who have passed through his fifth-grade science class.”
Huck Newberry ’77, a student in Bloch's first homeroom class, said he was invested from the start. “With his mustache, loosened tie, rolled-up sleeves under his sport coat, and driving a motorcycle, we weren’t sure what to think at first,” he said. “That changed. Having a teacher quarterback football with students during recess was unheard of, but Mr. Bloch did. He came to games, gave us nicknames, spent time connecting with us. He read to us and talked about other places, making you think through how to live there. He was great at teaching you how to think differently. Being in his class was almost like being in a museum school today.”
For Bloch, engaging in the students’ interests was a way to connect. “If you don’t know your students and what motivates them, you cannot teach to their strengths.”
His daughter and part-time Lower School Spanish Teacher Valerie Bloch Montgomery ’01 emphasized his capacity as an educator. “While not his first choice, Dad grew into being a science instructor because a good teacher can teach anything, and that is what he was, has been, and continues to be,” she said. “He embraced the subject and used it to foster creativity and a love of learning.”
A Force for His Community
While Bloch’s view is that plenty has been covered about his history with the School, like the Pooh character he read to his students, he invested himself in his FWCD journey and community. He started out teaching multiple subjects as a Fifth-Grade Homeroom Teacher in Lower School, served as a Department Chair in 1991-92, taught Technical Theatre, helped guide yearbook and Quill students, and chose to focus on science when fifth-grade moved to Middle School in 1995. Bloch helped anchor the Kindergarten Rodeo every year as its chief banjo player, and he coached – football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis. Through the decades, he served as Middle School Parent Faculty Association Representative, volunteered for faculty orientation training, helped initiate and lead student trips to Fossil Rim and Big Bend, assisted Faculty Education Committee programs, and aided many new parent and step-up events, all while facilitating learning moments.
Underscoring Dan’s broader FWCD impact, Head of Middle School John Stephens related to his father’s 54 years of teaching at the same school. “I recognize the level of devotion to the students that is necessary to achieve that successful goal. They are enduring stars for schools. They know how things have evolved and why and what things are important for the students, the school, the families, the faculty,” Stephens noted. “They know the families – students, parents who were students, alumni, the school team.”
Valuing Bloch’s influence with families, former Head of School Evan Peterson H’15 added, “Dan was a great ambassador to new families, outlining what Middle School was all about, what to expect and not to panic.”
Former Middle School colleague Laura Terry confirmed his success with parent meetings: “Dan talked about students so earnestly that parents came away knowing that Dan knew their kids – what motivated them, what made them hesitant, what they added,” she said.
Head of School Eric Lombardi shared that Bloch’s care for students stayed with them as alumni. “I like hearing Dan talk about past students. He remembers something about each of them, and alumni know they were known by him when they were here.”
Dan Bloch H’06 has played the banjo in every Kindergarten Rodeo since the first one in 1969. Pictured here, he enjoys playing for students at the 13th K-Rodeo.
Dan was a committed science teacher.
Dan was a Falcon sports fan
Dan was a fun faculty member who dressed up for Middle School Halloweens.
Dan was celebrated in 2009 for 40 years of service at FWCD. His wife, Cheryl; daughter, Valerie Bloch Montgomery ’01; and son-in-law, Jeff Montgomery, were on hand to honor him.
A Lasting Impact
Bloch’s legacy at FWCD is lasting. He worked with passion to help grow students, evolve the School, advance core values (with both students and faculty), mature Country Day educators, and keep and respect FWCD traditions for all to appreciate.
“Dan’s incredible loyalty to the School and longevity are truly remarkable,” reflected Middle School English Teacher Shari Lincoln. “He’s worked through many changes and every FWCD Head of School. Dan has taken it all in stride and maintained the attitude that ‘Changes come and go, but I’m here for the kids.’”
Former Lower School Music Teacher Christine (Derber) Leuck added her sentiments: “When you consider the thousands of students Dan has influenced in his 51 years of teaching, it’s a tremendous impact. He was very passionate about developing students, and his love for connecting with children helped him add great ‘flavor’ to FWCD’s K-Rodeo tradition.”
Middle School Science/Math Teacher Michael Parker correlated Dan’s student-centered approach and the journey it led him through to his tradition of reading Winnie-the-Pooh to his students. “The irony is that the characters sort of come to life in who Dan is as an educator. He can sometimes be Eeyore with faculty, has the inquisitive mind of Christopher, leans to the insightfulness of Pooh with the students, and is wise like Owl,” Parker said. “In students, he draws out the explorative nature of Piglet and attracts their Tigger, bounding with energy, ideas and questions. Like the story he read them, Dan knew getting the kids hooked on exploring and questioning meant there was a good chance they would embrace that practice and develop into lifelong learners in the process. That is his footprint.”
Bloch is one of the teachers on whose shoulders Fort Worth Country Day’s reputation for world-class teaching and kid-connecting was built. “Dan has a legacy that will be unmatched in terms of the sheer length of his time here and the number of students he has impacted,” Lombardi said. “We look forward to celebrating that impact and the fact that Dan still has a lot to give to FWCD, enhancing alumni gatherings and investing with his wife, Cheryl, in being proud Country Day grandparents.”
One of Dan’s favorite FWCD memories was playing in the 50th K-Rodeo when Eliana Montgomery ’31, his granddaughter, was a kindergartener.
