By Owen Lentner, Chief Reporter
Branford High School’s Technology Education Teacher Paul Sarrazin was recently awarded the October Teacher of the Month by the Connecticut Technology and Engineering Education Association (CTEEA).
The CTEEA is a coalition of teachers supporting each other in the field of STEM. They formally recognize STEM teachers monthly for their excellence and leadership in education, the award Sarrazin won for October.
“I’m honored because I’m not a member of the group, I don’t pay dues, and they thought enough of me,” Sarrazin opened in an interview with The Buzz.
He is the second Branford High School teacher to be honored in recent months, joining science teacher Vicky Climie who was recently named the district’s teacher of the year.
Sarrazin has been teaching at Branford High School for the past nine years. He teaches Technology Education, which covers the variety of automotive classes at BHS including both “Introductory Power Technology” and “Automotive Mechanics Technology”.
He graduated in 1983 from H.C. Wilcox Technical High School in Meridan, a school with diverse course offerings including Automotive Technology, Carpentry, and HVAC Specialization.
“I was encouraged by my mother to become a tech ed teacher,” he said. “My mother matched my personality with what she knew [about technology education teachers].”
He took his mother’s advice and applied to two universities: Keene State College in New Hampshire and Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) and was accepted to both. He settled on Central Connecticut, where he studied Industrial Arts, now better known as Technology Education.
“With a part-time job at JCPenney, I was able to put myself through CCSU and I’m proud to say that when I finished, it was paid for,” he said.
Sarrazin had a long line of schools ahead of him by the time he graduated from CCSU in 1988, teaching at four different schools over his 38-year career.
He first started at Windham High School as a Technology Education teacher, instructing Automotive courses similar to those offered at BHS. He left in 1995 after finding a job closer to his home in central Connecticut, specifically Berlin.
In August of 1995, he continued the same role he had at Windham High but this time at Orville H. Platt High School in Meriden.
“Platt High School was like a homecoming for me because I grew up in that community. My brothers and sisters all went to that school,” he added.
His time at Platt ended abruptly near the beginning of 2015, however, due to school administration decisions. Superintendent Mark Benigni decided to change some courses around after the completion of a new auto shop on their campus, canceling some courses including Sarrazin’s.
“The stigma of automotive didn’t fit [the superintendent’s] agenda. He wanted things that sounded a little more lofty, such as STEM. But if anyone truly knows what STEM is, they’d know that Automotive Technology is STEM,” he said.
He began looking for new work, eventually finding a Torrington posting for an Automotive Teacher. He taught at Torrington High School for two school years.
“The school and community is very poor, but the parents were incredibly supportive,” he said. “The parents came [to the school] for Parents Night and saw I was lacking this or that [like] brooms and fire extinguishers, basic things. The next day two parents show up with tons of things I need, just very generous [people].”
In 2017, the state couldn’t set the annual budget. Schools receiving state assisted funds, then, couldn’t set a budget. In a panic, the Torrington Public Schools District sent out layoff notices to any teachers untenured.
“When you have a layoff notice in your hand you take it seriously,” he added. “They had an opening down here, [in Branford]; I came and interviewed, and did a sample lesson. That right away told me when you come to Branford, they want to see you teach, which is a brilliant thing to do… not see you talk about how good of a teacher you are, but demonstrate how good of a teacher you are.”
Sarrazin was given the job at Branford High School in the fall of 2017 and has taught full time up until a couple years ago. Now he teaches part time, citing it allows him to continue to do what he loves but also allows him to enjoy his time as he begins to wind down.
“He is a really good teacher: he interacts with the kids and all of us like he’s one of our friends,” wrote Caleb Miller, one of Sarrazin’s students, to The Buzz. “[He] always lets us share ideas and makes everything fun for everyone.”
With 38 years teaching in the books and counting, Sarrazin’s time not only at Branford but around the state has left a lasting mark – now he leaves another one: STEM teacher of the month from the CTEEA.
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