My first job out of college was teaching K-6 physical education at a temporary elementary school in Liberty, Missouri. In early December 1967 I had one semester to go before graduation. I had met all of the school’s graduation requirements so all I had left to do was supervised student teaching (6 hr.s credit), carry another 6 hrs to be a full time student to qualify for my GI Bill plus a grant in aid and play baseball. That was the plan. My wife and I were learning (hands-on) how to be parents with our firstborn infant son. It was a busy time but no more so than the previous three and a half years.
At the time Liberty was building the new Lewis & Clark Elementary School. Those students held classes on the 3rd floor of the Odd Fellows Home just south of town. The gym teacher was an old black man. Mr. Gant had been the Superintendent of the Black school when segregation was the rule. He had been integrated along with black students into the new, reorganized district. He died unexpectedly and they were put in a bind midyear looking for a replacement. I had coached little league baseball the summer before and the son of the School Board President was on that team. It went like a double jump in checkers from School Board to Athletic Director to me. I could drop out of school, forego baseball, graduate with my class in the spring and do my supervised student teaching in the summer.
The second week of January, 1968 I reported to the 3rd floor of the Odd Fellows Home. It was the beginning of what would be a 36 year career, hanging out with kids, sharing what I could share and learning something new almost every day. The Physical Education thing got my foot in the door and with additional studies I migrated gradually into the Science Department (primarily Biology). It wasn’t that I loved the gym less, I just loved the Science more.
Today I am 25 years, a quarter century into retirement. Teaching biology and environmental issues has evolved to a new generation and neither can I nor do I want to keep digging in that hole. But I don’t live in a vacuum. I resonate to a World View that favors a sustainable, unpolluted environment at the expense of corporate profits. I resonate to a World View that rewards cooperation rather than competition. One doesn’t need a crystal ball to imagine where that scenario would lead. I am not a doomsday prophet but change is the nature of nature and as a species I fear we are digging a hole that our descendants will not be able to climb out of.
Mine has been a long and healthy life but there are no guarantees. Every morning my first thoughts include gratitude for the new day. I try to stay positive in troubled times. I like the idea of paying it forward a lot more than Making America Great Again. I almost always reflect, “When was it great?” I’m not going to berate the man or those who think he holds the answer. It’s not about intelligence, smart people do stupid sh*t. We all have a World View that either embraces diversity (a good thing wherever you find it) or obsessed with exclusive privilege for people just like themselves. If I ruminate on privileged bigots and their narrow views I get upset and that’s no fun. Pay it forward; do what you can, when you can and make the world a better place. When I do that I go to sleep and wake up feeling better.
At the time Liberty was building the new Lewis & Clark Elementary School. Those students held classes on the 3rd floor of the Odd Fellows Home just south of town. The gym teacher was an old black man. Mr. Gant had been the Superintendent of the Black school when segregation was the rule. He had been integrated along with black students into the new, reorganized district. He died unexpectedly and they were put in a bind midyear looking for a replacement. I had coached little league baseball the summer before and the son of the School Board President was on that team. It went like a double jump in checkers from School Board to Athletic Director to me. I could drop out of school, forego baseball, graduate with my class in the spring and do my supervised student teaching in the summer.
The second week of January, 1968 I reported to the 3rd floor of the Odd Fellows Home. It was the beginning of what would be a 36 year career, hanging out with kids, sharing what I could share and learning something new almost every day. The Physical Education thing got my foot in the door and with additional studies I migrated gradually into the Science Department (primarily Biology). It wasn’t that I loved the gym less, I just loved the Science more.
Today I am 25 years, a quarter century into retirement. Teaching biology and environmental issues has evolved to a new generation and neither can I nor do I want to keep digging in that hole. But I don’t live in a vacuum. I resonate to a World View that favors a sustainable, unpolluted environment at the expense of corporate profits. I resonate to a World View that rewards cooperation rather than competition. One doesn’t need a crystal ball to imagine where that scenario would lead. I am not a doomsday prophet but change is the nature of nature and as a species I fear we are digging a hole that our descendants will not be able to climb out of.
Mine has been a long and healthy life but there are no guarantees. Every morning my first thoughts include gratitude for the new day. I try to stay positive in troubled times. I like the idea of paying it forward a lot more than Making America Great Again. I almost always reflect, “When was it great?” I’m not going to berate the man or those who think he holds the answer. It’s not about intelligence, smart people do stupid sh*t. We all have a World View that either embraces diversity (a good thing wherever you find it) or obsessed with exclusive privilege for people just like themselves. If I ruminate on privileged bigots and their narrow views I get upset and that’s no fun. Pay it forward; do what you can, when you can and make the world a better place. When I do that I go to sleep and wake up feeling better.
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