Day Of The Teacher!

I realize the National Day of the Teacher was May 7th but I work in a relatively rural (to my urban friends, backwards) community that is slow to catch on, so we celebrated this morning with a breakfast that rated maybe a 5 on a 1 (inedible) to 10 (culinary masterpiece) scale. Years of service awards were given (obligatory certificate and Target gift cards) and retirees honored. Nice, but nothing necessitating the title "Day of the Teacher." Personally, I would rather see the money wasted on these "recognitions" spent on classroom supplies ($70 a year only goes so far). It's like CVS or Rite Aid pushing you to get one of their "rewards cards." Yes its nice to get a discount every once in awhile but I'm sure everyone shopping there would like to just see the prices go down.

Anyway, the purpose of the day got me to thinking about my high school teachers. A fellow graduate of Palo Verde High mentioned recently to me on Facebook how lucky we were to have such great teachers in such a small isolated school. I agree whole heartedly. Whether it was just luck that we were in the right place at the right time or divinely inspired influence, I would like to single out five (plus one elementary teacher), although there were many great teachers.

Without Mr. Stinson I am convinced I would have flunked out of college my first year. I only had Mr. Stinson for a semester but the course was "Composition for College." Like the "trail boss" in charge of a herd of cattle, Mr. Stinson whipped, yelled, cajoled, encouraged, and muscled his students--his cows--down the trail of the writing process, with the goal being a well crafted, readable, properly notated research paper. That single skill and everything it called for--researching, note-taking, outlining, writing, revising, writing again, citing, etc.--saved me in college. Thank you Mr. Stinson.

My senior year I had Mr. Copeland for an Advanced Biology class. I didn't care much for science but Mr. Copeland was a dynamic and creative teacher. I will never forget the day he showed up for class (it was 1st period) with a big burlap bag. "Guess what I have for you today?" he said with a mischievous grin. Immediately he had everyone's attention. With a strange looking stick in hand he pulled out a snake. Memories fade, I want to believe it was a rattle snake but it might have been the non-poisonous gopher snake, either way there was a snake crawling around the floor with Mr. Copeland keeping it under control with his "snake stick." He went into a full anatomical lecture about snakes from memory using his live friend as a model. It was so cool! Mr. Copeland also required a research paper and I did mine on irrigation canals (because one ran in front of my house). I examined the plant and animal life supported by the canal and how it fit into the broader ecosystem of our little agricultural valley. Got an A, yep!

Coach Ramsey influenced my life in so many different and positive ways. While we may not have been very successful in terms of wins and losses, Coach Ramsey knew his role was more than just head football coach. He prepared me/us to be men. He stressed hard work, fair play, and showing a sense of class. While he may have often told his players to "pull their heads out of their asses" we all knew he meant, "think before you do." He emphasized all the time to carry ourselves with a sense of "self-respect." Other than a high-five or chest-bump he discouraged celebration after a big hit or touchdown. I can hear his words today, "Act like you have been there before men." Having been involved in coaching roughly half of my 24 years teaching, I have witnessed the best and worst head coaches have to offer. Coach Ramsey was one of the best.

We all knew if we got Mr. Gilmore to start telling stories about his college days or sports it meant free day for us. The beauty is that his stories had lessons in them too. Sometimes teachers today get so caught up in covering the material so Johnny or Jane can pass the state mandated test, we don't bother to offer insights to life and living. Granted this can be a slippery slope, but it is important to students to know their teachers faced challenges and have had issues in life. Too many kids today do not get that at home. Now, Mr. Gilmore was the most awesome math teacher ever, but he was also interested in us as humans. Just making that human connection in itself facilitates better learning and improvements in academic achievement. As a counterpoint, Mr. McMillian knew a lot about algebra but he was an ass to his students, thus not nearly as much learning occurred. Mr. Gilmore knew exactly where to draw the line between being our friend and our teacher, and we are better people for it.

Before I move on, I want to say a few things about a most amazing teacher, Ms. Parker. I have focused solely on secondary teachers, maybe because I am one, but in my formative years (2nd and 3rd grade) I had who may well be the best teacher in America. If an artist was asked to paint the portrait of the ideal elementary teacher it would look just like Ms. Parker. She was nurturing, smart, funny, firm, challenging and fair. She had her classes do things no other teacher would attempt, like re-enact lengthy plays, plan a cross-curricular unit around the theme of Christmas, end the year with a classroom Olympics with academic and sporting events selected and designed so everyone won something. Her gift though was doing all this fun stuff while also holding high academic standards and requiring students to demonstrate knowledge and skills. God bless you, Ms. Parker.

The most influential teacher I ever had was Mr. Edmundson. In many ways it was an odd couple relationship. Mr. Edmundson was tall, thin, liberal, and a 49er fan. I was shorter, thick, conservative, and a 49er hater. Unlike too many liberal minded (and maybe a few conservative ones) teachers today, he did not judge you based on your political ideas and he respected above all else informed opinion backed by facts and reason. He utilized creative ways to teach what could be a dry subject--US History. He gently nudged me into leadership roles as a student rep on the school site council, and as a key member of our Model UN Team. As the Model UN advisor, he gave about two dozen of us a chance to get out of isolated Blythe and visit college campuses in San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino. We got to interact with the so called "cream of the crop" from other schools. We had to learn speaking, thinking, and writing skills. But Mr. Edmundson let us be who we were too. While I'm still overweight, a 49er hater, and conservative, I am also a teacher sculpted from the legacy of Mr. Edmundson.

Teachers are like soldiers. General Douglas MacArthur said in his retirement speech, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." I think that sentiment holds true for teachers, especially the good ones. Recognized or not the influence of a good teacher carries on in their students and maybe beyond. So whether still working, retired, or having passed on, thank you teachers of PVHS during the years from 1980-1984. You did good.

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