Gary Taylor served in the military and worked as a police officer after graduating from Burlington High School in 1973. He didn’t think a college degree was all that important. Taylor grew up in a blue collar family with a father who believed that if you didn’t work with your hands, it didn’t count as work.
CCV’s People Millionaire
Melissa Elwell insists that being a people millionaire is one of her greatest strengths as a teacher.
“I literally called in every favor I had and said ‘I want top of the line fingerprint kits, I want top of the line laser systems, I want stringing kits so I can do blood splatters.’ That’s the people millionaire thing,” the CCV Bennington instructor said of her prep work for the forensics class she teaches. “I really believe that my students deserve everything you would get at a major university.”
And while it may be true that having lots of connections makes for great classes–Elwell has had author Archer Mayor visit class and called on judges to open up court rooms for use–in actuality there are likely other factors at play. For instance, one could say students are drawn to her classes because they feel like the real world.