Thank you list, Part I...

is the first of what will probably be several entries in this blog.  No, I'm not suddenly ill or feeling like I have limited time left on the planet.  But in some of the reflective thinking I've done in the past weeks, it occurs to me that even though some of them are no longer around and most of them won't see what I'm about to jot down; I want to send thank yous out into the universe for the people who have influenced my life.  Both in positive and negative ways, because even the negative influences had lessons to teach me.

Let me begin with Mrs. Skiles, Mrs. Zimmerman and Mr. Sherry, my 4th, 5th and 6th grade teachers in Elementary School.  Mrs. Skiles and Mrs. Zimmerman pushed a young boy with a lot of brainpower who was very, very lazy when it came to doing schoolwork.  The Student of the Month certificates I earned under their tutelage would not have happened without their prodding.

As for Mr. Sherry, I'm grateful to him because of an incident that caused me to be suspended for the last week of the 6th grade.  I'd lost a textbook and he was chiding me in front of the whole class for it.  I said I'd pay for it and asked how much it was and he bellowed "it costs ten dollars".  I told my mother about this and she wrote out a check for $10.00 for me to take to school the next day.

But the book's cost was less than $3.00 and he became incensed when I presented him with the check.  He bellowed at me again and I said "you know where you can go" and that cost me a week of school. 

He taught me a valuable lesson.  Authority figures will abuse that authority and while I shouldn't have given in to the prodding and given him the response he was seeking, I did learn that you must stand up for what you believe in and not let anyone walk over you.

There were a number of teachers during my junior high years that I need to thanks.  To Neil Hurst, Don Gaynor and Lyle Beecher, thank you for making me realize I was a better athlete than I believed myself to be.  Thank you for pushing me to improve those skills.  And to Don Gaynor, who gave me a gigantic swat with that big paddle in the PE office, thanks for making me understand that if you violate iron-clad rules, you will be held to answer for it.

Steve Marcy was my math teacher for only one year but he taught me the value of humor in teaching, a lesson I carried into my own time as a teacher, both in the school environment, and in teaching tax preparation.  I became a better teacher thanks to his fine example.  And probably ended up telling a lot more bad jokes, puns and other 'rimshot' type things than I might have done otherwise.  Guess that's a mixed blessing.

John Obusek was my architectural drafting teacher for one semester, but he taught all of his students the importance of hard work, persistence and other critical values. 

Mr Bream and Mr. Kramer taught Social Studies, but unlike a lot of the other academic teachers I took classes from at Lincoln, they taught us to think critically.  To question why and how things happened, not to merely recite by rote memory the events of history.

Fred Dalton was a math teacher but I remember him for the 9th grade year where he taught an experimental class in chess logic and theory.  I didn't really improve my chess playing in that class, but I learned how to teach the game to others, lessons I used years later when I found myself teaching strategic and thinking through the playing of chess, Risk and Stratego.

Scott Carter was a math teacher but he was also an incredibly talented volleyball player.  He taught me some things about playing the game, as well as instilling in me a love for the game.  I played volleyball all through my military career and for almost a decade afterward.

Greg Runyon was a teacher who taught me to think outside the box.  To investigate and form my own conclusions.

Then it was off to Santa Monica High School where I came under the influence of a lot of teachers, but only several come to mind.  Leroy Vaughn, an excellent chemistry teacher, who influenced the lessons of using humor in the classroom I'd learned from Mr. Marcy. 

Ms Fonfa taught 11th grade history and she made the learning experience such an amazing one that I actually looked forward to every day in her classroom.  With mock trials of famous cases from history and other interesting activities, this was probably the best class outside of college that I ever experience.

Mr. Hutchinson was my 12th grade government teacher and as a retired Air Force officer, he and I talked often after I entered the delayed enlistment program early in my senior year.  He gave good counsel, and taught us a lot about how the U.S. government works and how it is supposed to work.  There is a difference.

There was an English teacher at Samohi whose name I will not mention.  She taught me that teachers are fallable, that they are human and can let you down even when they promise not to.  But she also taught me to love writing as well as reading, and so for that, I forgave her the disappointments long ago.

There was another teacher whose name I will not mention.  He taught me that Caucasians can be victims of racial prejudice and preconceived notions, and that has made me much more sensitive toward the discrimination practiced against people of "color".  He engaged in blatant discrimination against me because of the color of my skin and that is a lesson I have carried ever since.

I'm going to stop here, and pick up the thanking of teachers in the next entry in this multi-entry blog because college teachers are next.  Since I went to:

Miami-Dade Community College - South Campus
The University of Miami
Florida International University
Los Angeles Metropolitan College
The University of Guam
Jefferson Davis State
Central Texas College overseas
College of Southern Nevada
Western Governor's University

all of those, to get an A.A. and a B.A. in Business, it will take a while to list all of the teachers from all of those schools I want to thank.  So, that will be the next entry.