A Great Neck South High school teacher will appear on morning show “Live with Kelly and Michael” on Tuesday, May 13 as part of the show’s “Top Teacher Search” contest.
John Motchkavitz, the school’s Business Technology Department head and a Great Neck native, said in an interview on Friday the show plans to air a five-minute video of him that was filmed at the school last week.
“From all that footage they’ll put together a five-minute clip and then I’ll walk out and speak with Kelly and Michael,” Motchkavitz said.
Motchkavitz, a volunteer with the Great Neck Alert Fire Company, said the show’s cameras also filmed him at the fire station and at his Great Neck home.
Motchkavitz, commonly referred to by his students as “Motch,” said he’s not nervous about his upcoming television appearance.
“Kelly and Michael seem like regular people,” he said. “I’m not really nervous at all.”
Motchkavitz was named a finalist in the contest, which seeks to honor teachers who have made a difference in students lives, on April 29. Motchkavitz said he was watching the show when the announcement was made.
“It was pretty amazing,” Motchkavitz said in an interview after the announcement. “The whole class just started going crazy. People were running around all over the place.”
After each finalist appears on the show, a final round of voting will take place from May 16-19 on the show’s website, livekellyandmichael.com
The winner of will be announced on May 20 and receive a brand-new 2014 Ford Escape.
Motchkavitz, who teaches robotics and set design classes offered to students as electives, was honored by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) on the House floor in Washington D.C. on Thursday.
“I am so proud of the contributions that John has made to Great Neck, to my congressional district, to Long Island and to our nation,” Israel said. “He is an example for teacher’s everywhere. Thank you Motch.”
Motchkavitz said he received a call from a former student’s parent on April 25, when Ripa and Strahan announced that Motchkavitz was a semifinalist, along with 11 other teachers.
Motchkavitz said that was the first he had heard about being nominated.
“I had no idea they nominated me,” he said. “Just being nominated was a beautiful thing.”
Motchkavitz also volunteers as a firefighter in the Great Neck Alert Fire Company. His company was one of the first to respond to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Motchkavitz has worked in the Great Neck school district for 12 years. He previously worked in the Malverne School District, where he was once honored as the district’s “teacher of the year.”
Motchkavitz was nominated by Great Neck South High School teacher Sheryl Burger, a member of the school’s business technology department.
“When we think of a person that makes a difference both in the classroom, around school and in his community, Motch is that guy,” Burger said in her nomination letter. “He really is the backbone of Great Neck South High School.”
Working in the Great Neck School District, Motchkavitz said, was never something he considered doing.
“I wasn’t sure about working where I lived,” he said.
But after deciding to say yes, he said he’s never been happier.
“It was the best move that I ever did,” he said.
