The late Sam Cooke may not have made such a declaration in his song, “Wonderful World,” had Myron E. Blosser of Harrisonburg, Va., been his teacher.

Blosser, who teaches biology at , has received national recognition for his ability to engage students in the realm of life science in the classroom and beyond.

has given its “Outstanding Biology Teacher” award for 2013 for the state of Virginia to Blosser. He will receive the award on Nov. 22 at an honors luncheon hosted by the NABT in Atlanta, Ga. Before that, he will also receive a certificate from the organization at a Nov.15 Association of Science Teachers conference in Norfolk.

This honor, given each year since 1961, identifies a teacher for each state “who has made valuable contributions to the teaching profession and to students. Criteria for the award include teaching ability, experience, creativity, initiative and collaboration in the school and community.”

“It’s meaningful to me to be recognized by your peers in the profession,” Blosser said of the award. “It means that you’re doing something right and [it’s] an affirmation that raises my energy level and helps keep me going.”

Blosser, himself a 1979 EMHS graduate, earned a BS degree in with from ��ݮ���� in 1983 and an with a concentration in curriculum development from EMU in 1998. He taught biology courses three years at Strasburg (Va.) High School, then at Harrisonburg High School from 1986 to 2002 before joining the EMHS faculty in the fall of 2002.

“My years at Harrisonburg High School were transformative for me,” Blosser said. “I grew up in a hurry and learned from three teaching colleagues in particular what it means to be a professional educator.”

These former associates – Gary Riner, math department chair, Judy Warren, English department chair, and Henry Buhl, social studies chair– will be the title of a book Blosser is writing on teaching methods and pedagogy – “Gary, Judy and Henry.”

At EMHS, Blosser teaches grade 10 biology, advanced placement biology, and anatomy and physiology one semester, and biotechnology another semester. He is also chair of the science department.

Blosser says his approach to the learning process is “content-centered,” as compared to making the teacher or the students the main focus.

“Biology is an exciting field because it’s the study of life on earth,” he said. “We are born curious. Therefore, I seek to gather with my students around the subject under scrutiny and together seek to keep that curiosity alive. It’s exhilarating – for me and for the students.”

Blosser is passionate about getting students involved in research projects.” That’s where students really learn,” he declared. He currently has six EMHS students doing individual and group research projects.

Every year in March, Blosser hosts a biotechnology symposium and invites students from area high schools to hear a noted speaker and to spend a half day doing lab work.

His craving for integrated learning extends to a “Discovery” program held every other year in which 30-40 EMHS students spend a month on a coast-to-coast field trip, mixing factual material with hands-on learning, employing a different theme each time.

These Discovery trips study a variety of environmental issues – water, soil, timber, megafauna, energy – utilizing local farmers, research scientists, politicians and others as their instructors. These have included Wendell Berry, author and activist; Wes Jackson, founder of ; and Rick Wallen, head bison biologist for . Participants camp in tents and travel in a modified motor coach equipped with power, a networked server and laptop computers.

“My goal is to take students who start out as consumers and help shape them into producers of knowledge themselves,” Blosser stated. “It’s hard to do, but it does happen.” He uses the analogy of students “climbing a mountain” rather than “running on a treadmill” in their pursuit of academic achievements.

Blosser enthusiastically endorses , noting that “it was exactly what I needed to begin developing a sound pedagogy and confidence to face the day-to-day challenges of teaching.

“EMU asked me to do my student teaching at [in Lansdale, Pa.], which pushed me outside familiar territory,” Blosser noted. “I was all alone for the semester, having to deal with all the issues, newness and complexities of my first long experience in the classroom. This gave me more confidence and even the desire to launch out into uncharted waters, which I have done my whole career.”

Blosser also credits his upbringing for his ability to break new ground. “My parents provided an environment where I developed a healthy self-confidence, the habits of hard work, ability to take risks, and a sense that my work is really God’s work.”

The extended Blosser family has left a deep footprint at EMU. Myron’s great-grandfather, Daniel A. Blosser, was a member of the first board of trustees soon after EMU began as Eastern Mennonite School in 1917. Grandfather Mahlon Blosser and Myron’s father, Glendon Blosser, served many years on the board, and Myron Blosser is in his 12th year as an EMU trustee.

Blosser is married to Rhonda Graber Blosser, a 1985 EMU graduate who teaches kindergarten at in Harrisonburg. All three Blosser children are currently enrolled at EMU – Kurtis, a senior environmental sustainability major; Kelsey, a junior nursing major, and Bryce, a first-year biology major.

Blosser’s siblings are also EMU alumni – Floyd, class of 1976; Diane Blosser Burkholder, class of 1978; and Phil, a 1982 graduate.

Ohio dairy farmer David Kline’s first trip to the Shenandoah Valley came with a surprise — it’s not flat amid the mountains.

“You have rolling hills,” he said. “I like roll to the land.”

What’s more surprising is how many people heard Kline say that.

A crowd of about 200 packed into Dayton’s Montezuma Hall Wednesday night to listen to the Amish farmer speak of the importance of being respectful stewards of God’s land.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension, ��ݮ���� and Valley Conservation Council were among the event’s sponsors.

“I guess Amish speakers are fairly popular,” extension agent Eric Bendfeldt said when introducing Kline.

Attendees, however, did not come out to listen to just any Amish speaker.

Kline is the author of several books, including “Letters from Larksong: An Amish Naturalist Explores His Organic Farm,” and travels often to share the story of his 120-acre family farm in Holmes County, Ohio.

The Amish comprise about half Holmes’ 40,000 people, according to the county’s chamber of commerce.

Amish and Mennonites share many of the same beliefs, born out of a 16th century European movement known as Anabaptism — rejecting infant baptism. The Amish, though, live a much more conservative lifestyle today.

Because of that faith, Kline asks not to be photographed. An EMU professor’s in-laws live near him and brought him to Virginia since he uses a horse and buggy as transportation in Ohio.

Kline is speaking to classes at the university this week. Eastern Mennonite School students have actually visited his farm a number of times as part of science teacher Myron Blosser’s summer program.

“It is a real treat to sit around and chat with David on his farm as the sun goes down, then get up early to ‘help’ milk his cows, eat a farm-grown breakfast, watch him mow hay with horses and discuss issues in agriculture with him,” he said in an email. “It has a way of framing perspectives for us.”

Kline said farmers must embrace technology and science only so much, ensuring that the knowledge gained from manual labor on farms is handed down to succeeding generations.

He uses wind power to pump water on his farm and solar energy to charge batteries. Otherwise, his farm and many others around him are electricity-free.

“If there’s a storm,” Kline said, “we never worry about lines being down.”

That way of life is not for everybody, he admits. What is, though, is respecting the land that grows the world’s food.

Kline advises farmers to “romance” young people to keep them interested in agriculture and to not be overwhelmed by the job.

“This is the best life you can live,” he said.

For more, read the latest edition of .

Myron Blosser

Myron E. Blosser

Myron E. Blosser, a 1983 EMU graduate and veteran educator from Harrisonburg, received EMU’s 2005 "alumnus of the year" award during the Sunday, Oct. 16, worship service of homecoming and family weekend.

The award is presented annually to a graduate who has been recognized for significant recent achievements in their profession, community or church. Melodie M. Davis, a 1975 EMU graduate who has a 30-year tenure as a writer/producer with Mennonite Media in Harrisonburg, received the "distinguished service award," also during the homecoming service.

The annual "distinguished service" award seeks to recognize graduates who have demonstrated in notable ways the Christian service and peacemaking emphases of the university.

Following graduation, Blosser taught at Strasburg (VA) High School for three years before taking a position teaching biology at Harrisonburg High School.

He has received wide recognition over the years for his efforts to instill students with a love of science by taking them beyond the classroom walls.

Blosser led a group of Harrisonburg High School students across the country in 1998 to study environmental science for several weeks. He took another group on a similar trip two years later.

In 2001, he left Harrisonburg High and joined the faculty at Eastern Mennonite High School with the retirement of long-time biology teacher David A. Mumaw, who Blosser said "made me want to be a teacher in the first place."

In 2003, he and two other EMHS teachers in several disciplines led 22 students to the Pacific Ocean, following the trail of Lewis and Clark in the year of the 200th anniversary of the explorers’ voyage of discovery.

This summer, Blosser and another 22 EMHS students followed the Colorado River by bus and raft from its source all the way to Yuma, Mexico, where it enters Mexico. The group analyzed the river’s water along the way and its effects on local farms and a major city, Las Vegas.

Blosser has received numerous recognitions for his teaching, including "biology teacher of the year" in 1993 from the Virginia Association of Biology Teachers, in 1994 from the American Association of University Women and in 1998 from the National Association of Biology Teachers. He was one of 20 teachers nationwide named to the 1999 USA Today Teacher First team and was a member of the state education committee that wrote Virginia’s science Standards of Learning.

The Harrisonburg native is married to Rhonda Graber Blosser, a 1986 EMU graduate. Their children are Kurtis, Kelsey and Bryce, all students at Eastern Mennonite School.

Melodie Davis

Melodie M. Davis

Davis, an English major at EMU, took a position with the former Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media), one month after graduation and has been with the agency since then.

Today, as writer/producer for Mennonite Media, she works with radio spots, writes a syndicated column, "Another Way," and does editing for the organization’s "Third Way Cafe" () web site. The radio spots are carried on some 300 stations across the country; her column appears in 10 newpapers in North America, including the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record.

Davis also works on documentaries on difficult life issues that have aired on network and cable television.

Davis’ radio spots and other work have received awards from the church and secular media. Her "Parenting on the Edge" radio spots were recognized in the 2003 Gracie Allen Awards.

She has written eight non-fiction books and also works part time as editor of the inspirational newsprint tabloids, "Together" and "Living," published by the Shalom Foundation.

The Goshen, Ind., native is married to Rockingham County native Stuart Davis. The couple has three adult daughters – Michelle, Tanya and Doreen.