Cameras roll while VIU Political Studies professor Alex Netherton (left) watches his friend and colleague Dr. Mark Williams receive an award for exceptional teaching from Teachers Above and Beyond producer Bisola Alabi while his students look on.
February 21, 2017 - 3:45pm
With cameras rolling, Shaw TV surprised Dr. Mark Williams during a lecture to honour him for their program Teachers Above and Beyond
Dr. Mark Williams lectures in his classroom unaware that the producer of the Shaw TV series Teachers Above and Beyond, Bisola Alabi, is outside his door with a television crew, his partner Linda Brooymans, baby daughter Iris and colleague Alex Netherton. Alabi whispers “get ready.” and on the count of three they swing the door open and burst in on the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Political Science professor. (The element of surprise is a key element of the show – the subject has no idea the cameras are coming.)
Williams, who is at the front of the class, tries to figure out who is disrupting his class. Alabi steps forward to shake his hand and tell him why they are there – he is being recognized for being an exceptional teacher. The room erupts in applause, hoots and whistles.
Once the noise dies down, Alabi presents him with a plaque engraved with the words: ‘Thank you Mark Williams for being an exceptional teacher.’ The class also receives a pizza party from Domino’s Pizza, and Williams gets some gifts from the show’s community partners. His students applaud while shouting “speech, speech!”
“I’m just speechless, but I guess what I can say is I just love teaching at VIU,” said Williams. “I’m very overwhelmed at the moment, to be honest, and even got a bit emotional when I saw that my baby daughter is here. Now that I know what this is all about it just further motivates me to do even better at my job.”
Williams was nominated by his students and is now featured on the 13th episode of Teachers Above and Beyond.
“I was thrilled when we got the nomination. It’s a University so for us, that’s huge,” said Alabi. “It made me feel really happy that the VIU community is interested in appreciating their teachers. I would love to come back if we get more nominations.”
Arjan Manhas is the political studies student who got the ball rolling on the nomination. Now in his fourth year at VIU, he says he wanted to do something special to acknowledge the impact Williams has had on him and the others he teaches.
“He’s such an inspiration to his students. He understands where we’re coming from and he knows how to make lectures and assignments interesting. I was really happy to see it all come together,” said Manhas.
The only one who wasn’t surprised was his partner, Linda Brooymans.
“I wasn’t surprised. Mark is a great teacher and he just loves what he does so much. I’m really happy for him,” she said.
You can watch Mark Williams on Shaw TV’s Channel 4, Thursday, February 23 at 4 pm; Friday, February 24 at 5 pm; Saturday, February 25 at 7 pm and Sunday, February 26 at 10 am.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Dane Gibson, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University
P: 250.740.6288 | C: 250.618.7296 | E: Communications@viu.ca | T: @viunews
Tags: Teaching and Learning
