by marlys good
Tom Urbach, retired Greybull High School teacher and wrestling coach, received the Promoting Excellence in Advocacy for Change and Empowerment (PEACE) Outstanding Advocate award for his 15-plus year efforts in advancing the education of his sociology students and athletes at GHS about the dynamics of abuse and understanding of abuse in relationships. Urbach’s impact went beyond his classroom when he extended his work through his fellow wrestling coaches in Big Horn County and staff and teachers in surrounding counties.
The Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault presented the award to Urbach during a reception Feb. 16 at Little America Hotel in Cheyenne.
Carol Lowe (former CARES advocate) said one of the goals of CARES as an agency was to get good information about domestic violence and sexual assault into high school. “Actually all schools, but I thought I could get into the high school because my kids were in high school.” So circa 1991, she approached Urbach, sociology teacher, about the feasibility of stepping into his class for two or three weeks to talk about a subject almost taboo prior to that.
“Tom told me I could come in for a couple of days; I went in, and he thought the information was important and told me I could stay long enough to give the kids a sound foundation.” The dye was cast and from then on Carol or a CARES advocate was in the school two to three weeks per year. When Tom retired in 2007, the teaching went on.
“Tom had it written into his curriculum — what he was going to do. I talked to the current sociology teacher and he’s going to continue. It was a good partnership back then and it is still a great partnership now. It’s doing great work to help teens understand abuse.”
When asked why he had originally agreed to let Lowe into his classroom, he laughed and said, “I just thought I would have two days I wouldn’t have to work.” On a serious vein he said, “I knew some things were going on, but I didn’t know how common it was — much more than I would have guessed.” He admitted that he learned as much as his students. “Oh, my goodness. My learning curve was extremely high at that point. It’s extremely important; extremely so. I had never been exposed to or been made aware of it being a problem.”
What he has learned from those CARES visits to the high school, he has taken beyond the classroom. “I was asked to serve on the CARES board. I don’t like meetings, but it is important. It is something that affects everyone’s life at some point. There are a lot of young kids who suffer in silence.”
Lowe said having these programs presented in high schools (including Riverside, Lovell, Rocky and Burlington) has had an impact. “I knew it increased our reporting; it was obvious to see that the reporting of sexual assaults went up. I had kids call me after their graduation, saying they were glad we gave them that information. They were in an abusive relationship and had to get out. Those phone calls affirmed that what we were doing was important.”
Tom said the information presented in his sociology class was critical. “Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I would always have a question on the final test, asking what is the most important (thing learned). The most common answer was ‘what Carol taught them.’ I am still learning things about it that amaze me.”
He is humbled by the recognition from the Wyoming Coalition. “I asked them, ‘Why me?’ They told me I had done a lot of good things — I didn’t think I had.”