LACONIA — If your boat breaks down on the lake this summer, or if you need help while driving through Gilmanton this spring, there’s a good chance one of Bill Clary’s former students will answer the call.
Clary, a retired Laconia Police Department captain, has spent nearly the past decade leading law enforcement classes at the Huot Career & Technical Center, growing the subject of study from what was a pilot program into a full-time curriculum. His efforts have created a springboard for many students interested in a career in public safety, and on Friday he learned he would be honored as Career Technical Center Teacher of the Year.
Clary was surprised by Dave Warrender, director of the Huot, who visited his classroom to break the news. Clary will be formally presented with the honor at the New Hampshire Excellence in Education Awards in June.
Warrender said he was so convinced Clary was deserving of the award he nominated him twice: first last year, then again this year.
“He’s a great innovator,” Warrender said of Clary. When Warrender joined the technical education center, located on the Laconia High School campus, about 12 years ago, the law enforcement program was still finding its feet. It was launched as a partnership between the school district and Laconia PD, and only offered one class per semester.
Since Clary was hired to run the program, a little less than a decade ago, “he has expanded it to a full-time program with great student interest.” Up to 45 students are engaged with Clary’s curriculum each year, and the experiences offered give them a foothold in the industry, should they want to pursue it as a career.
Those experiences include presenting their learning in front of a board of local safety officers, experiencing some of the same training they would need to do police work, and internships with local departments.
“He has done it really, really well. He has sustained it, and it’s meaningful” to students, Warrender said of the growth of Clary’s program. “If there’s something he wants to do, he will advocate for things and make things happen.”
Clary takes his subject seriously, Warrender said, and expects excellence from his students. But he also finds fun activities for students to engage with before holiday breaks, and he knows how to connect with students on personal levels. He’s the kind of teacher that students stop in to visit even after they’ve left his class, Warrender said.
After learning their teacher was named the best in the state, a couple students said the honor was well-deserved.
“He is a very outgoing teacher. He cares about all of his students,” said Jerzie Morrison. “He’s bubbly, funny, sarcastic, by far the best teacher I’ve had in my life.
“He has a lot of faith in us.”
Part of Clary’s success, Warrender said, is due to the partnerships he has forged with various organizations outside of the school. He brings in people from local police departments, but also corrections facilities, Marine Patrol, the county attorney’s office and social welfare agencies such as New Beginnings.
Those partners come in as guest speakers, return as judges for students’ oral presentations, then offer internships for those students who want to see the work happen in real time.
Lindsey Peterson, another of Clary’s students, said he’s an effective educator.
“He makes work that could put someone on edge easier,” Peterson said. “He makes a class that seems difficult to pass easier to pass.”