Local high school teacher continues starring TV role on ‘Good Day’
It’s a natural story. A local high school teacher, Richard Curtis, is selected from thousands of entrants in a social media competition, to spend a week as Kelly Ripa’s co-host on “Live with Kelly” at a time she is on the hunt for someone to replace Michael Strahan as her on-air partner. (Ryan Seacrest recently got the nod.)
Curtis is so good, a “natural” if you will, he is invited back for a second go on Kelly a month after his guest stint.
“Good Day Philadelphia’s” Mike Jerrick goes to Curtis’s Souderton High School classroom to do a piece on Curtis. In the midst of his visit, Mike, in a way natural to him, spouts the idea that Curtis should continue his television appearances by taking a place on “Good Day’s” panel.
The idea sprouts, and today and all week, Curtis will be part of the “Good Day” in the 9-10 a.m. segments of the Channel 29 program. On this morning’s show, he’ll appear sans Jerrick. From tomorrow on, Curtis will be in the mix with Mike, Alex Holley, Sue Serio, and the rest of the “Good Day” crew.
A dream of sorts continues. Taking time from a weekend vacation with his family in Disney World, where the weather, in case you’re interested, was “gorgeous,” Curtis says the Fox Philadelphia invitation and gig are “exciting.”
As was his time with Kelly Ripa.
“The experience has been a lot of fun. It’s right ion my wheelhouse, From the beginning, when I was chosen to be Kelly’s co-host, I made a decision to be myself on the air, to talk to everyone as if we were chatting on a weekend. I would be myself ans enjoy the company of everyone else.”
Everyone else included some major stars other than Kelly, such as Sarah Jessica Parker. Curtis put her celebrity and that of others aside and approached them as people who things to say and stories to tell, his attitude and personality worked in his favor.”
So who is Curtis when he’s himself? “Positive, happy, and vibrant,” he says.
“I understood I was sitting there on national television after never having been on television previously, but I kept telling myself, ‘Be yourself, and you’ll be fine.’
Curtis is experienced at making the most of opportunities.
A native of Perkasie, where he resides now, and a product of Pennridge schools, where his children attend, Curtis says he prefers learning things by being “hands-on,” which includes making mistakes and wending towards excellence in spite of them.
He said he was never good at memorization, and math was a continuing mystery, but he liked working at things and developed technical skills. He studied graphic design and other disciplines that could be employed in broadcasting.
Curtis teaches in the Technical Education department of Souderton High. By happenstance, a leitmotif in Curtis’s life, Tech Ed was assigned to supervise and produce a broadcast featuring Souderton students. His technical abilities were extended to help students learn how to present a story or subject on the air and to put a show. Souderton airs a 20-minute broadcast each school day.
Curtis’s course, a popular one, is called Broadcast Journalism, and his time on “Live with Kelly” and the upcoming stint on “Good Day” gives him reallife experiences he can share with his students. And does. “I’ve been teaching how to be on TV for seven years,” Curtis said. “In that time, I stressed creativity, the blending of technical capability and personality. My message was always to get in there and learn your craft, learn by doing. I’d tell students to try something. If they don’t get it right the first time, persist, learn from what is going wrong and make it work. If something is grasped the first time, it’s all the more awesome.
“I ask students to jump in and see what works for them and what they enjoy. My experience with Kelly puts power behind my words. I use my concrete experience to be a better teacher, more aware of practicalities that go into broadcasting. Trying new things, mastering skills, and being onself remain the keys.
“I could have been nervous about going with ‘Live with Kelly.’ I might have tried to be a guy on television instead of being myself. I took the opposite attitude. I said, ‘Be yourself and have fun.’
“After all, I had everything to gain and little risk. It was pretty easy process. The situation wasn’t make or break for me. It was a chance to do something new and exciting and learn things I could bring to my class.
“I have a job. I’m a teacher at Souderton High. I used that security to take away any pressure. I figured even if I was terrible, I had something to fall back on, my actual job. That allowed me to relax on screen. I realized I was starting my TV experience my being a co-host of a nationally syndicated talk show. That show stars Kelly Ripa and has professional producers and staff. I would be safe. All I Had to do was relax and contribute when I could.”
Curtis says he never particularly dreamed about being on television or being the host of a talk show.
“I watch TV, and sometimes while watching interview shows, I thought of questions I would lie to ask, but that’s the extent of it. I can’t say I had an ambition to be on television.”
Curtis, who through our talk showed his gift for conversation and humor, said he is interested in what makes a person unique.
“I love listening to individual stories and like particularly hearing what makes a person tick. I want to see who people are, and the questions I ask reflect that.”
Being on Channel 29 is as important to Curtis as being on national television.
“I enjoyed my time on national television. Coming home and being on TV in my hometown, Philadelphia, is icing on the cake. I can’t wait to get to be on the couch with Mike, Alex, and the ‘Good Day’ crew and meet new people, by working with them and talking to guests.”
Curtis said he hasn’t thought much and can’t say where he wants all of this TV exposure to lead.
“I am thrilled the opportunities I’ve had. Last year at this time, I would never have been able to even imagine all that’s happened. I’m open to what might come next, and I’m content with my life and all that has happened so far.”
Positive, happy, and vibrant, don’t you think.
As noted, Curtis will be fresh from time in Disney World when he enters the “Good Day” set this morning. Our chat ended, he went back to what he said was an ‘awesome time’ with his wife, Lindsay, and children, Parker, who turned age six last Tuesday, and Leighton, age 3.
Brewer gives birth
Channel 3 reporter and anchor Nicole Brewer is once again a mother.
Nicole gave birth on Thursday, May 4, to a girl, named Grace Allyson, who weighed in at 6b pounds, 10 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.
Grace joins a family that included Nicole, her husband, Kellen, and their son, Grace’s brother, Jack, age 3.
Next up on the maternity wagon is Channel 3 weather anchor Kate Bilo, who is due to deliver her third child later this month.