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From Boxer To Teacher: Hartford's Wortham A Class Act

Fighter For Hartford Former middleweight now a Hartford teacher

Hartford Courant editorial

August 13, 2010

The good news is that Troy Wortham will be inducted into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame in October. The better news is that Mr. Wortham is teaching eighth-grade math at Rawson Elementary School in Hartford.

Mr. Wortham was an unusual student-athlete in the 1980s, a professional boxer who also attended the University of Hartford (and hence was known as "Schoolboy"). An excellent middleweight, Mr. Wortham retired at age 22 to focus on getting his degree. He did make a brief comeback a few years later — as so many do — but then concentrated on a teaching career, which has flowered in Bloomfield and Hartford.

Now 46, he coaches young boxers and also pushes them to excel in the classroom. He volunteers for the school's Saturday tutoring program, said Rawson Principal Gerald Martin. "The kids look up to him," Mr. Martin said.

Mr. Wortham developed his athletic as well as his academic abilities, both of which allowed him to do something meaningful with his life. And then he gave back, as a coach and tutor. Would that more professional athletes followed his example.

Boxing can be a dangerous activity, to be sure, but it can also be a way for young men and women to get a step up on the ladder of life. Mr. Wortham's career proves the point, and we congratulate him on his coming induction into the Hall of Fame.