Halloween Not Over for Prize-Winning Teacher

Inspirational professor uses masks in his optometry classroom.

Most of the year’s Halloween-ery has been stored at the back of some closet, but optometry professor Ed Bennett still keeps his masks in play in the classroom at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Bennett jokes that he is “a regular at the costume shop,” because of his searches for the perfect illustration of a lesson: “Sometimes he’s Leonardo da Vinci teaching about neutralizing an eye’s optical power,” says the university’s newsletter. “And sometimes he’s Mr. Hall O. Ween himself, a crook on trial for selling illegal contact lenses that result in corneal scarring.” Bennett’s engaging approach to his job has earned him the Michel G. Harris Award for Excellence in Optometric Education from the American Academy of Optometry. “I’ve found that when the students are having fun, they’re learning and remembering more,” he says.

Read more and see images at UMSL News