Arthur Kojabash
Born and reared in Connecticut (in the Hill/City Point section of New Haven), the youngest of the five children of Theofan and Anastasia Kojabash, Arthur Kojabash spent most of his life here except for his service in the army when he was shipped to the Pacific immediately after World War II. Upon returning, he matriculated and graduated from Arnold College (now a college within the University of Bridgeport) and embarked on a career in education.
Arthur Kojabash, Mr. K, or Artie-what you called him usually depended on your relationship: a student, a colleague, a friend, or an acquaintance. But whatever you called him, you learned, very quickly, that he was always been a man of great passion, sincerity, and limitless drive when it came to learning-yet quite private when it came to recognition of his achievements or actions.
His first teaching position was in Groton, Connecticut, in 1953; but a year later he came to us here in Branford as a sixth-grade teacher-first at Stony Creek School, then on to New Indian Neck, the junior high school, and finally the intermediate school until his retirement in 1982. Although Artie was best known as a math teacher, his influence went far beyond the academic areas.
As an educator, he combined compassion, strength, and knowledge to lead his students to their maximum abilities. Although he did not find the term individualized education to his personal liking, he practiced it daily long before it became popular. Thousands of students learned from him both academic and life lessons that they would carry with them for the rest of their lives as he fulfilled his roles as teacher, coach, and mentor. When approached to consider leaving teaching for a position in the business world, Artie refused, saying, 'Tm doing what I love to do!"
In Mr. K's classes there were no dull, boring lectures. He posed problems with multiple solutions, and learning to think took the place of memorized facts---except, of course of those arithmetic or mathematical facts that just had to be memorized. But even then he offered many opportunities to challenge higher-level thinking processes.
If teaching was his first love, then sports was a close second. Artie was, and still is, a strong competitor. He played fast-pitch softball for Columbus Auto Body in New Haven at first base and was speedy at rounding the bases as well as being able to hit the long ball. Whether it was baseball, fast pitch softball, volleyball, basketball, bowling, or golf, Artie played with the same passion that he taught with. JoAnn Donadio (Education Hall of Fame, 1998) once noted that "his love for sports carried over in his dealings with young people, be it on the playground during recess, or after school in an organized or casual setting." She also recalls that he often invited interested students to attend varsity sports and/or professional and semiprofessional games. "Even in retirement, Mr. K continues to follow Branford's team sports and for many years has been scoring and timing Branford High School varsity basketball games as well as attending girls' softball games," JoAnn said.
Although he has received recognition, formal and informal, for his selfless contributions over the years, he has consistently stated that his actions were of little consequence in comparison to those of others. His priority is his family, most of whom now reside in Florida and California, who are a constant source of pride and strength for him, as is his faith. It is the passion of Arthur Kojabash that is respected and recognized for what it enabled him to contribute during his decades of service as a "total educator."
Arthur Kojabash, Mr. K, or Artie-what you called him usually depended on your relationship: a student, a colleague, a friend, or an acquaintance. But whatever you called him, you learned, very quickly, that he was always been a man of great passion, sincerity, and limitless drive when it came to learning-yet quite private when it came to recognition of his achievements or actions.
His first teaching position was in Groton, Connecticut, in 1953; but a year later he came to us here in Branford as a sixth-grade teacher-first at Stony Creek School, then on to New Indian Neck, the junior high school, and finally the intermediate school until his retirement in 1982. Although Artie was best known as a math teacher, his influence went far beyond the academic areas.
As an educator, he combined compassion, strength, and knowledge to lead his students to their maximum abilities. Although he did not find the term individualized education to his personal liking, he practiced it daily long before it became popular. Thousands of students learned from him both academic and life lessons that they would carry with them for the rest of their lives as he fulfilled his roles as teacher, coach, and mentor. When approached to consider leaving teaching for a position in the business world, Artie refused, saying, 'Tm doing what I love to do!"
In Mr. K's classes there were no dull, boring lectures. He posed problems with multiple solutions, and learning to think took the place of memorized facts---except, of course of those arithmetic or mathematical facts that just had to be memorized. But even then he offered many opportunities to challenge higher-level thinking processes.
If teaching was his first love, then sports was a close second. Artie was, and still is, a strong competitor. He played fast-pitch softball for Columbus Auto Body in New Haven at first base and was speedy at rounding the bases as well as being able to hit the long ball. Whether it was baseball, fast pitch softball, volleyball, basketball, bowling, or golf, Artie played with the same passion that he taught with. JoAnn Donadio (Education Hall of Fame, 1998) once noted that "his love for sports carried over in his dealings with young people, be it on the playground during recess, or after school in an organized or casual setting." She also recalls that he often invited interested students to attend varsity sports and/or professional and semiprofessional games. "Even in retirement, Mr. K continues to follow Branford's team sports and for many years has been scoring and timing Branford High School varsity basketball games as well as attending girls' softball games," JoAnn said.
Although he has received recognition, formal and informal, for his selfless contributions over the years, he has consistently stated that his actions were of little consequence in comparison to those of others. His priority is his family, most of whom now reside in Florida and California, who are a constant source of pride and strength for him, as is his faith. It is the passion of Arthur Kojabash that is respected and recognized for what it enabled him to contribute during his decades of service as a "total educator."