(
)
Award-winning Bronx teacher Thomas Porton’s lesson plans have always had a central theme — he strives to educate the heart as well as the mind.
That’s why the English teacher at Monroe Academy for Visual Arts & Design, who in 2002 won the inaugural Liberty Medal in the Educator category, takes students outside the classroom to do community outreach.
“I’m always trying to teach community,” he said. “You need to be an active, caring, supportive person. Helping others in whatever way you are able will come back and help you,” said Porton, a grandfather of three.
His students help run an annual conference to educate teens about HIV/AIDS, cook Thanksgiving dinner for community residents, and organize blood drives. They find in Porton, who has taught at the school 42 years, a caring, multifaceted teacher who’s also an expert on rap music.
The popular Porton, whose current and former students make up his nearly 2,000 Facebook friends, this year won a Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award.
Some of his students are the children of former pupils, and the parents are always telling him, “Take care of my child the way you took care of me,” he said. “It’s the ultimate tribute.”