kept the business afloat in those early
years. “I had the hardest time even
getting Steve to remember to bring
home the check after a gig,” says Renée.
“That’s why this partnership has lasted
for so many years—he creates and I
make sure that we don’t go bankrupt.”
TURNING THE SPOTLIGHT
By the late 1990s, Spangler was established. He knew his formula worked.
He knew that the school gigs would
always be there.
But then the moment arrived that
not only fundamentally changed the
way Spangler worked, but also changed
the way he viewed his career. It was the
moment that Spangler first realized that
he could be so much more than just
the wacky science guy; it was also the
moment that began his transformation
from ‘speaker’ to ‘entrepreneur.’
The year was 1997, and Spangler
was doing a school gig in a Denver
public school—a pretty rough one, he
recalls. The students enjoyed the show,
laughed and clapped at the appropriate
moments, But Spangler noticed a mid-
dle-aged teacher sitting at the back of
the room didn’t seem quite as pleased.
As Spangler worked his way through
his program, the woman scowled.
“She was looking at me the same
way your mom looks at you when
you’re goofing around in church,”
Spangler recalls. “I checked my fly. I
thought to myself, ‘What did I do?’”
Spangler couldn’t figure out what
went wrong. So he approached her.
“I said, ‘I think I may have offended
you. I’m very sorry. But can you tell me
what I did?’” he says. “She turned to
me and said, ‘I’ve been teaching for 22
years and nobody has ever stood up and
cheered for me at the end of class.’ And
that’s when I had a moment of clarity.
In my mind, I thought, ‘What if I could
teach her to do this?’ I realized, instead
of worrying about me being amazing,
I could teach other teachers how to be
even more amazing and effective in the
classroom. That’s the secret that makes
the company today.”
Indeed, while Spangler still gets a
kick out of speaking to youth, it was
the teacher training programs that
really catapulted his speaking career
to the next level. His professional
development programs aim to give
teachers all the knowledge and skills
they need to get their students really
interested in science; not surprisingly,
the programs have been a hit for the
last 15 years. He’s seen the world of
professional development for edu-
cators fluctuate greatly over the last
decade. But these changes have given
him the chance to create new training
opportunities for teachers and school
administrators. Learning from his NSA
colleagues, Spangler launched a 12-city
tour of public seminars. These hands-
on science boot camps as they’re called
draw impressive numbers and give him
access to educators who might never
get a chance to be part of one of his
workshops. Spangler also hosts a more
in-depth training in Colorado each year
called Science in the Rockies. In 2008,
he partnered with Holland America
Cruise Lines to create a new program
called Science at Sea—a week-long
experience that explores the inside
passage of Alaska with a special hand-
picked team of naturalists.
