Tommy Sheehan ’14 remembers it like it was yesterday.
It was when he got an assignment from his fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Bennett, who asked the class what they wanted to do when they were older.
Sheehan had two answers. First, inspired by Ms. Bennett, who danced and sang and made school fun, he wanted to become a fourth-grade teacher himself.
That’s exactly what he’s doing as a fourth-grade teacher at Floral Park-Bellerose Union Free School District on Long Island, jumping up on desks and rapping about long division, trying to make elementary school exhilarating for today’s students.
His second goal, however, was the kind of starry-eyed ambition of a fourth grader who dreams of playing center field for the New York Yankees or becoming an international pop star.
Tommy Sheehan wanted to be on the smash reality TV show “Survivor.”
His parents worked in law enforcement and had inconsistent hours. Yet it was a Sheehan family tradition to turn on CBS on Wednesday nights and discover who would get voted off the island that week. It was thrilling entertainment for a young Sheehan, who daydreamed about doing intense physical challenges in a tropical location as he climbed the trees in his backyard.
Sheehan will get to live out his dream as one of 20 cast members on “Survivor’s” 39th season, which airs its first episode at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25. This season, called “Island of the Idols,” was filmed earlier this year in Fiji.
It was his background as a teacher, Sheehan believes, that helped him sail through an intensely competitive audition process.
“I created a three-minute tape about my teaching style,” he said. “I stand on desks and I do cartwheels. Instead of having my students memorize facts, I create social studies raps and I rap to my kids about long division. I get them up and dancing and I shoot them with silly string. I have confetti poppers and do all of these crazy things. I filmed that and I talked about how I’m a different type of fourth grade teacher.
“I got a call back that day.”
Sheehan’s preparation for “Survivor” was threefold. He worked to be ready for physical challenges, mentally stimulating puzzles and also for the cutthroat socio-political dynamic of “Survivor’s” alliances.
A standout athlete at Locust Valley (N.Y.) High School, Sheehan originally came to SUNY Cortland with thoughts of competing for the university’s basketball team. Instead, he focused on his studies and on playing every intramural under the sun.
You can add SUNY Cortland broomball champion to his list of accomplishments as well.
“Winning that as an intramural was one of the coolest things ever,” he said.
These days, Sheehan stays fit through lifeguarding, surfing and working as a referee for high school sports in Nassau County.
As far as studying for the puzzles of “Survivor,” Sheehan went back and hit the books as hard as he ever did in Memorial Library. He rewatched every single episode of the previous 38 seasons, taking notes and screenshots at key moments.
Finally, the power dynamics of “Survivor” are one of the reasons the show has had such long-lasting success. The strongest and the smartest don’t always stick around for another week. Those who learn how to form alliances and play contestants against each other often come out on top.
“As I got older, I appreciated the social dynamics of being able to lie, cheat and steal and how that’s allowed in the game,” Sheehan said. “In real life, that’s shunned upon and I tell my students not to do that, but on that island, that’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re entering a new world where you’re supposed to lie, cheat and steal and whoever does it best comes out the winner. I fell in love with how you can manipulate people.”
For example, Sheehan noted a scenario from the first episode of season 38. Three contestants went off for a swim during some downtime. The six who remained around the campfire immediately formed a majority alliance. Every decision — even going for a swim — can have significant implications for competitors.
Sheehan is planning to turn his fourth-grade classroom into a “Survivor” simulator for his students as they watch his progress on TV.
After all, he’s trying to pay forward those lessons taught to him by Ms. Bennett back when he was a fourth-grade student.
“I’m going to have split them into tribes and my class is going to search for immunity idols and compete in mass immunity challenges,” Sheehan said. “I’m going to take the show and use that as a fun way to get the kids even more excited to come to school. That’s my dream.
“I want every student to want to come to school. I want to use this ‘Survivor’ experience to make it even more fun for each of my students every single day. It’s not just about me and my ‘Survivor’ journey. I want it to be about my class.”