Hal Farah of Waterford, MI, Kettering High School Named 2002 NFL Teacher of the Year

Nominated by Bears QB Jim Miller

HAL FARAH, a language arts teacher at Waterford Kettering High School in Waterford, Michigan, has been named the 2002 NFL TEACHER OF THE YEAR presented by MBNA, the NFL announced today. Quarterback JIM MILLER of the Chicago Bears, nominated Farah, his former high school teacher.

Farah will receive a $5,000 grant from the NFL and a $10,000 NFL award will be presented to Waterford Kettering High School. Farah will travel to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii this February as a guest of the NFL and will be honored during a pregame ceremony.

Farah has taught at Waterford Kettering for 35 years, and currently serves as its Language Arts Department Chairman and the Waterford School District Curriculum Leader. Other teaching honors Farah has received include the 2001-2002 Distinguished Teacher of the Year, the Pepsi Cola's Teacher of the Year award in 1999 by the Kettering Student Council, and the Flannery Ford and Waterford Foundation Education Teacher of the Year in 1991.

In addition to his teaching in the classroom, Farah has coached the Waterford Kettering varsity and junior varsity baseball teams and the varsity wrestling teams.

"He is so deserving of this award," Miller said, who was a member of the National Honor Society at Waterford Kettering with a 3.75 grade point-average. "I remember that he would live out the characters in the books he would read to us. He was so good at relating to his students and getting everybody involved in his class. He is the best." After graduating from Waterford Kettering, Miller went on to earn his bachelor's degree in financial administration at Michigan State University.

"An important characteristic of my teaching is that I make my lessons relevant and entertaining so that my students are not bored and actually want to get involved," said Farah. "When discussing lessons, students will invariably ask, when will I ever need to use this stuff?' As a teacher, I must justify the importance of all that I am teaching, and so I make sure to relate my lessons to real life experiences in a meaningful, as well as entertaining way."

Miller, in his fifth season with the Bears, ninth overall in the NFL, is actively involved in the Bears community programs, including the Central Illinois Touchdown Tour that benefits Special Olympics. He annually serves as the spokesperson for the Chicago Bears Coat Drive and participates in the "Cans for Christmas" Toys for Tots event, among numerous other activities throughout the year.

In 1990, NFL Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE and the NFL clubs created the NFL TEACHER OF THE YEAR program.

"The aim of the program is to honor and recognize teachers and to encourage our young fans to think of teachers, as well as athletes, as role models," said Commissioner Tagliabue.

MBNA America Bank was named the presenting sponsor of the NFL TEACHER OF THE YEAR award in 1998. MBNA is the largest independent credit card vender in the world, and issues the official NFL affinity credit cards. More than one million fans have chosen to carry a credit card featuring the NFL shield or logo of an NFL team.