My Good Fortune

Blog #7--(Only 1069 to go!):   My Good Fortune         This reflection is prompted by a very nice note that I received from a friend, who happens also to be the mother of a former student of mine. Her note reminded me of how fortunate I've been to spend my life teaching at Saint Ignatius.
        The story of how I came to teach at Saint Ignatius High School (as it was known then) isn't particularly interesting to anyone except me, but I'd have to say that it was the result of many coincidences and much good fortune. I didn't even know that there was a Saint Ignatius High School until just before I signed the contract. Being a north-sider, the only "Saint Ignatius" that I was aware of was the parish near Devon and Sheridan.
        I have often said that if you can't teach at Saint Ignatius, you can't teach. The truth is that I've never taught at any other high school, so that's just speculation on my part. More than a few teachers from other schools have chided me, making the point that anyone can teach "smart" kids.       I KNOW!!!    AIN'T IT GREAT?
        But I digress (yet again). To me, what makes Ignatius a great place to work is the quality of the people with whom I have come in contact. This includes students, parents, colleagues, administrators and staff.  My joy and satisfaction wasn’t tied to working with “smart kids”. It was linked to the support of those around me.  At Ignatius, I received that support as well as assistance, friendship, counsel and even the "benefit of the doubt" when things didn‘t go as planned.
        When Frank Raispis and I formulated a list of "clichés to live by”,  rule #1 was, “View everyone’s actions in the best possible light.” Over my soon-to-be 50 year involvement with Saint Ignatius, the students have been respectful and the parents generally appreciative. Even when I fell short, most parents seemed to accept the fact that  I was giving my best effort. In that time, I don’t think that I had even a dozen “uncom-fortable” encounters, and about half of those I felt were justified. It is true that not everyone has the same agenda, so, while I felt “innocent”, it was easy to understand the parent’s discontent. At parent conferences, I always felt that I was meeting with a friend; that’s a good feeling when you’re working with someone else’s child.

  To sum up: Thank you, one-and-all.