TOWAMENCIN – The North Penn Alumni Athletic Association annually rewards the NPAAA Lifetime Achievement Award to an alumnus who has made significant contributions to society in their field outside of sports, whether it be business, philanthropy, education, justice, or another sector. 

This year’s NPAAA Lifetime Achievement Award has been awarded to North Penn Class of ’85 alumni Mr. Bo Glover for his body of work regarding educating and connecting the youth with nature in Newport Beach, California, serving not only students but the environment.

After studying at Villanova, Glover moved to California in 1991, where it all began.

“I told my parents 32 years ago that I was moving to California, and told my mom if it didn’t work out I’d come back,” Glover said.

Glover moved to a new community, unfamiliar with the people and places.

In reflection on this immense paradigm shift, Glover said, “I can not say I wasn’t worried about having the resources to survive. To have a job that would support me, a living wage, and leaving my family was difficult, especially far away. It wasn’t like I could get here in a couple of hours, it’s across the country. The difficulty I had in California was the cost of living, that was something that I had to get through, most people struggle and you’re not eating out a lot over there, but again building that network of people out there made it comforting.”

Offering his services as a volunteer to local environmental organizations significantly helped Glover settle down in his new home, twenty-seven hundred miles away from home at North Penn. Glover’s first steps in Newport Beach were not spent on his endeavors regarding environmental education.

“I started off as a bartender, but I wanted to volunteer in my new community so I went to the Environmental Nature Center (ENC) in my phone book and asked if they needed help,” Glover recalled. “They asked me if I wanted to be a naturalist, [from there on out] I was out teaching students about environmental education.”

Despite this being volunteer work, one thing had led to another, and Glover was promoted to Executive Director of the ENC in 1995. 

“At the time there were some issues regarding its [the center] funding and I put a proposal in front of the directors to help grow, raise the capacity, and direct the organization,” Glover said. “The board offered me the position of executive director, nine dollars an hour, and twenty hours a week was an opportunity for me to show them what I can do with the organization.”

Glover has helped influence tremendous growth and expansion at the ENC in Newport Beach. 

“The programs of the nature center have grown and grown over the years, when I was appointed I was a member of a staff of 1, and now we are a staff of 35. We now have a zero-net emission educational building that is an example for the entire country on how to build an early childhood school that not only serves the students but the environment as well,” Glover said.

Glover lives by and preaches the motto, “We will start each day, outside, every day.”

In this age of technology, people are often hypnotized by their phones or even computers due to daily life nowadays.

“Kids today spend a lot of time on screens, on average 7.5 hrs daily, when I was a kid we didn’t have screens, computers just started. It is really important for people to get off their screens and get outdoors and that’s what we try to promote at the ENC and get people reconnected with the natural world,” Glover said.

The kids over in Newport Beach did not have an omniscient grasp on the beauties of nature.

“Kids there have never seen a farm or tree other than maybe that palm tree in their courtyard. There is a huge disconnect between kids there and nature and hopefully, my work there is doing some good,” Glover stated.

In his acceptance speech, Glover, in closing, says, “My hope in my career is that I can change the world, and I hope that each of you has a desire in your school or career to change the world. I hope that you guys have that desire to change the world.”

The ENC has become the quintessence of an institution that promotes environmental science and social education to the kids, increasing the community’s appreciation and knowledge of nature, thanks to Glover.