Walt Mossberg, a Pilgrim High School graduate who went on to become one of the most influential journalists of the digital age, has been named to the Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame. The CEA Hall of Fame was started in 2000 to honor the men and women who have made significant contributions to the field of home electronics, which includes everything from light bulbs to personal computers.

Mossberg, whose knowledge and appreciation of all things digital, prompted him to find the words to explain the rapidly evolving field of digital gadgetry just as it was beginning to transform the way we entertained ourselves. He made it much easier for his readers to understand and choose wisely with his informed reviews of those gadgets as they came on the market.

In speaking with Mossberg yesterday, he took a few minutes to remind us of how much growing up in Warwick and going to a great high school made his career possible.

He said he had many great teachers at Pilgrim but he especially remembered the late school superintendent and teacher Robert Shapiro.

“He certainly knew his subject matter and he was good at putting it across,” said Mossberg, “but what he really did was to teach us how to think and how to approach the world … He didn’t treat us like children. I had to read the New York Times and other journals to learn about things going on the wider world and the pros and cons of every issue and then we had to write a paper about them. He was an exciting teacher.”

Mossberg said he fears that today’s teachers don’t have the luxury to excite students the way Shapiro did and are often tasked with just prepping them to pass achievement tests. Mossberg said he was part of that post-Sputnik generation of children who benefited from a national concern that our kids wouldn’t know enough about science to compete with Soviet technology.

“There was a lot of federal available money to encourage teachers to find creative ways to make kids better at science. I was in the fifth grade when we were pulled out of class and given IQ tests,” said Mossberg. “They created accelerated programs for us and encouraged teachers to be creative in coming up with ways to teach.”

Mossberg said the idea of teaching kids just what they need to pass achievement tests wouldn’t have worked for him, or prepared him for the career he eventually built for himself as one of the most respected and influential journalists in America.

“I couldn’t say for sure, but my guess is that Mr. Shapiro wouldn’t be crazy about the way they teach today.”