Past experiences influence instructor

By JILL AHO

Jack Brook, 54, hasn’t been a teacher all his life. He said the experiences he had before he started have influenced his philosophy on being an instructor. “I understand where students are coming from,” he said. “So I think they deserve 110 percent of my time.”

Brook, recent recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award, began his education right after high school. He obtained his first degree in microbiology from Washington State University in 1974. He said he could not find a job after graduating because there weren’t many in that field for someone with a bachelors degree. He moved in with his parents and began working in a French fry factory. “I decided I couldn’t do that forever,” he said. Brook went back to school, this time attending Oregon State University where he got a bachelors in food science technology in 1976. His background in French fries landed him a job in quality control at another fry factory where he worked graveyard. His interest in nutrition began to take off, and he said he felt the fry industry was not the right place for him. He decided to return to school, this time earning his masters degree from Central Washington University in nutrition in 1978.

Brook said school did not come easy for him. “When I was in school I wasn’t one of those students who didn’t need help. I went to tutors all the time and I spent a lot of time studying.” He utilized the help he could get from his professors. “I couldn’t do it on my own,” he said.

That has influenced how Brook approaches teaching. “Science is a hard subject,” he said. “Students can come in anytime they want.” Brook’s open door policy means he is available outside of office hours for additional help, and he holds study sessions as well. The 15 years he spent working in other industries has given Brook a different perspective than those who have been in academics all their lives, he said. His understanding of the problems which older students face stems from his own life.

Brook said, “I’ve had jobs downsized and was without work for three months.” During that he and his wife had agreed she would stay home with their two children. The family found themselves accepting food from their church. “It was not a fun feeling,” he said. In the late 1980s Brook worked at Beaverton Foods in quality control, and the family needed more money. Brook began teaching part-time at night at Portland Community College and continued to do so for a few years. He found that he was enjoying his night job more than his day job. “I liked it, it was fun,’ he said.

In 1989 Brook responded to an advertisement in The Oregonian for a food science instructor at Mt. Hood. He was hired full-time and began teaching the CASS [Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships] students. The CASS program had just begun as a two-year food science technology program. He continued to teach it until the program was changed in 1997. Brook currently teaches Biology 101, Nutrition and a course in anatomy and physiology. This summer he is beginning a new class, Biology 112, which will be geared toward Allied Health students who plan to take the anatomy and physiology series.

He said all his classes work well together, keeping him current on all the subjects. “As a teacher you continue to learn and improve the information you give students. Teaching is like being a professional student,” he said.

Brook’s favorite part about teaching is the students, especially if you can laugh at them, he said. “It’s been the most positive experience of my life.”