John McConnell has been called many things: Physicist, mentor and innovator. Now Barbara Metzler has added “passionary” to the list.

McConnell is one of the 35 passionate visionaries profiled in Metzler’s book “Passionaries,” published last month. The book focuses on the good deeds of nonprofit organization leaders and the lives they touch. McConnell, who will turn 76 in December, is recognized for his work mentoring students and teachers at the Math and Science Center, 2660 Unaweep Ave.

In 1990, McConnell retired from Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico as a physicist and relocated to Grand Junction with his wife of 56 years, Audrey. He wanted to give back to the community, but McConnell had no idea he would one day open a science center and devote 60-70 hours a week to its operation. “This is a place that was born out of the trunk of my car,” McConnell said.

The center has grown ever since, with 1,000 school children in a 160-mile radius visiting each year. The center houses a variety of displays with kid-friendly explanations for scientific phenomena and supplies and kits for teachers to borrow. Eventually, McConnell wants to turn it into a regional center for science teaching and education.

Only 37 percent of Colorado fifth graders are proficient in science, according to CSAP results, and many elementary school teachers struggle to make science fun. McConnell aims to change that and loves to open the world of science to adults and kids.

“With the teachers, there’s a huge pay back,” McConnell said. “If the teacher teaches for 20 years or so, there’s a ripple effect. If they have 20 kids average (per year), that’s 400 kids you’ve touched. “You love the kids because you like to see the excitement in their eyes and the creativity.”

Ryan Patterson, a 2002 Central High School graduate, is one of McConnell’s protégés and is listed in the book as a “ripple” of McConnell’s efforts. As a third-grader, Patterson had a head for electronics and a lot of questions. So his teacher gave his parents a list of people who could answer them. On the list was Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) volunteer McConnell. The two clicked and ended up spending every Saturday working on experiments in McConnell’s shop.

In high school, Patterson invented a special glove that senses hand motions and translates them from sign language to text. The gadget won him first place in a $100,000 Intel-sponsored scholarship competition and put him and McConnell in the pages of GQ and People. Their story was made into a script for Disney but was never filmed.

Patterson graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder this May and works as an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin in Denver. Fourteen years after their first meeting, the two still talk every couple of days. “He’s taught me self-confidence and persistence and probably patience also,” Patterson said.

Derek Vigil, now 21 and a junior majoring in physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, became one of McConnell’s protégés as a junior at Fruita Monument High School. “I was pretty motivated before and John kicked it into high gear,” Vigil said. “He leads by example, he’s just out there every day pushing for what he believes.”

McConnell’s method is to believe in students and trust them to do well. “A lot of this is giving kids confidence and supporting them,” he said. “It’s giving kids wings and then they find out they can fly. And then they find out they can soar.”

Vigil and Patterson still visit McConnell at the Math and Science Center when they come to Grand Junction and admire the work their mentor has put into it. “Its success doesn’t put any money in John’s pocket but he wants to see students have an opportunity to succeed in science,” Patterson said.

School District 51 pays for the Math and Science Center’s utilities and the cost of using the space at 2660 Unaweep Ave. But McConnell has to raise the money for everything else. The center’s ever-evolving amenities costs a lot more than the $1 admission fee can afford.

Understandably, McConnell is always open to donations and new volunteers. He said he owes a lot to his volunteers, including his wife. “I couldn’t do it without their help,” McConnell said.

To make a donation to the center, call 254-1626 or visit the center’s Web site, www.sithok.org.

Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com