Murray School District's 1989 Teacher of the Year is a fifth-grade teacher who has been known to fill the faculty room with smoke when rehearsing his science demonstration and to battle students with a water bottle and squirt gun on the playground.
Eldred Nelson, who teaches at Horizon's Elementary School, was named as the district's outstanding educator by the Murray Board of Education. His selection earned him a four-day Disneyland vacation from Heritage Honda and $100 from the school district."He puts in more time than any teacher I've ever known and he loves teaching. He would rather teach than anything in the world," said Horizon Principal David Smith.
A Preston, Idaho, native, Nelson said he set his sights on teaching because of the excellent examples he had when he was growing up.
But he thinks education today is more exciting. "I love teaching. Today's students are the brightest we have ever seen because of the opportunities they have had. They are energetic and love to learn. If a teacher can find the time to prepare well, all of his students can succeed," he said.
Colleagues and parents report he is always positive, takes time to help struggling students and rarely leaves school before 6 p.m. He is also in charge of Horizon's sub-for-Santa project, annually organizing the effort to help seven or eight families.
He has been involved in helping Horizon make the shift to year-round status and is one of 13 teachers serving on the Governor's Committee on Education.
He has been emphasizing science, believing it is a too-often neglected subject. He loves teaching about electricity, magnetism, atoms, molecules, plants and animals. His students enjoy dissecting cow hearts, eyes, brains (all obtained from meat-packing firms), pig embryos, snakes, frogs, squid and starfish.