For Ken Fiscus, it’s not a job. It’s a dream.

&uot;I get paid to do my hobbies,&uot; he said smiling. He’d just won the 2003 District 241 Teacher of the Year award. &uot;I get to teach about stuff which I love.&uot;

Fiscus has taught earth and space science in Albert Lea since 1991.

Tuesday afternoon, at the district’s teacher of the year reception, Fiscus was picked from a group of five finalists for the 2003 award. His reaction was relief.

&uot;It’s been awkward to be nominated each year,&uot; he said. Fiscus has been nominated eight times for the award and been a finalist four times. Admittedly not much of a public speaker, he was relieved to finally get the process over with.

&uot;Now I don’t have to worry about it anymore,&uot; he said.

Fiscus was thankful for the award and said he didn’t really have the words to express his feelings about receiving it.

&uot;It’s very humbling,&uot; he said.

The award goes to one teacher each year. A committee made up of teachers, administrators, community members and school board members receives nomination forms for throughout the district. This year the beginning pool of applicants was around 20. The committee then filters the nominees down to a group of five finalists, and finally, a teacher of the year.

In his childhood, Fiscus’s best friend was given two telescopes from an older brother. Fiscus said it was the beginning of a lifelong passion.

&uot;I’d go to his house as many times as I could,&uot; he said. &uot;It was then that I fell in love with the sky.&uot;

Fiscus’s passion for teaching and sharing with people goes outside of the classroom. Each year he hosts the annual &uot;Walk through the Solar System/National Astronomy Day&uot; event in Hollandale. He constructs a scale model of the solar system that demonstrates the size and distance between the sun and planets; 350 people from all over the state attended last year’s event. He works as an astronomy guide for the Pelican Breeze as well as for four different state parks.

In the classroom, he makes his students become perceptive.

&uot;From day one I stress the importance of being observant,&uot; he explained. &uot;There are so many things people just don’t notice.&uot;

Fiscus mentioned the moon, trees, rocks, weather and climate as some of the things he tries to have them become more aware of.

He said he likes teaching ninth-graders.

&uot;I enjoy their energy and ability to connect to new interests,&uot; he said. &uot;They have open minds and haven’t yet closed off any possibilities for the future.&uot;

Fiscus doesn’t seem to have, either. In a questionaire he filled out when he became a finalist for the award, he said he wanted to become a published author and poet. He doesn’t want to close out any possibilities just yet.