Whether frozen or thawed, Bruce Gorrill has always taken advantage of Brewster’s natural resource classroom: Lake Winnipesaukee.
One colleague described Bruce as “the model of someone who is always striving to help kids unlock their potential.”
evolve curriculum, grow professionally, and incorporate technology in
learning from our environment, lectures, and hands on living with a
innovative ways. He will truly be missed.”
good deal of adventure mixed it! Just being able to put kids in that learning situation was fun.
“I am proud to be a role model – helping others to become better teachers and even better members of the community,” Bruce said.
I’ve also enjoyed witnessing students’ reactions when they saw Lake Winnipesaukee in its enormity, beyond our view from Wolfeboro
Above all, one of his greatest strengths has been his ability to
Bay. They were always amazed when they realized how large the lake
recognize and treat all students as individuals – to reach them where
really was and that our bay is just a glimpse of that reality.
they are and challenge them to always do their best. A favorite winter memory was when one of our big basketball players, “Mr. Gorrill made my experience at Brewster so positive, I remember
who happened to be from Las Vegas, stopped on the shore as the
him fondly. I took both AP biology and honors physics with him. He is
rest of the class ventured onto the ice. I turned to see him nervously
a calm, thorough, and effective teacher, one who knows how to reach
standing on the edge of ice, talking on his cell phone. I walked back
every students’ level, ” Courtney Tsiaras ’99 said.
and realized he was talking with his mother. I heard her yelling ‘Don’t go on that ice, it can’t be safe!’ It took some time but in the end he
Jack Sengstaken ’14 is another student who flourished under Bruce’s
was the student who drilled the first hole in the ice that day, three-
tutelage. “Spending time with Mr. Gorrill was a hands-on education
feet deep! He became pretty comfortable after that.”
that was often fueled by curiosity rather than a curriculum. He shared his passion for alternative fuels with me and with his insight three other students and I converted a 1986 VW Jetta to run on vegetable oil. I now study mechanical engineering and my experiences with project-based learning at Brewster continue to open doors in my educational career.”
MEMORABLE STUDENT MOMENTS
WHAT’S NEXT “Well of course Mrs. Gorrill will still be at Brewster. In the mean time, I have a number of projects I’m working on. I love spending time at our camp in Maine, and I am finishing a barn at our house in Ossipee. Shadow and I love to travel, and we are always looking for good snowboarding powder! Oh, and I promise to come to as many Reunions as I can.”
“I’ll never forget the trip I took my AP biology students on to Guvspuny Isle, Maine. Located in South Bay, off the coast of Lubec, Maine, the island was owned by Matt Hoopes, a member of our English Department. This was during the precell phone era and there was no running water or electricity on the island. After a six-hour van ride we arrived in the dark, timed to meet low tide so we could walk across the mud flats from the shore to the little island with it’s rustic cabin. In the morning the scene was transformed to nothing but water on all sides. We had an
“Mr. Gorrill was one of the first teachers I met at Brewster. After a six-hour drive from Brooklyn, New York, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, was a bit of an adjustment for a 14-year-old city boy. The first few hours were filled with nervous energy, fueled by excitement and apprehension. Thankfully, I was greeted by Mr. Gorrill’s soft tone and gentle demeanor, and he quickly nurtured my excitement and assuaged my apprehension.” – Ron McCormick ’95, Attorney, Bergen County (New Jersey) Prosecutor’s Office
amazing visit to Guvspuny Isle - studying and
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