Reflection # 19 (Only 1057 to go!) : Playing Politics

Reflection #19: Playing Politics
        (Disclaimer: I am not complaining. It just sounds like I am.)
    This blog about being a teacher and coach...not necessarily me. Well, maybe a little bit.
    Being back in the classroom for 6 weeks each summer, including this year, combined with recent news items about teachers (or as state legislators like to refer to us as Lazy Incompetent Greedy Slugs or LIGS), prompted me to write this reflection. It's probably not fair to generalize about the members of the legislature, although maybe it is. We all know that teachers have had the privilege of determining their own salaries, and health-and-retirement benefits. Oh, no! Wait! That’s the state legislature. I know!! It sounds a little bitter, but how come, when the state’s economy goes in the uh, er um “pooper”, as a result of bad governing, suddenly it’s the teachers who caused it, and, by damn, the teachers are going to pay? Just asking.
    I am officially retired, but I love teaching, and while I hate the 38 mile drive each morning, it's the concession that I make to indulge myself.  In my early days as a teacher at St. Ignatius, “friends” would chide me about “only working 5 hours a day” and “nine months a year”. Of course, they were right. I had an angel on my shoulder to check off homework assignments, grade tests and quizzes for over 120 students each day, and make up lesson plans and tests for the next days classes. Additionally, when Texas Instrument came out with what was originally called the “electronic slide rule”, or new elements were added to the curriculum, all I had to do was take a pill and, mystically, I knew immediately how to use the devices and, what was the best teaching method to incorporate.    (In case it’s not obvious, I’m being sarcastic!)     I’ve noticed that everyone seems to have an opinion on how to be a good teacher.  (The use of the word, “...everyone...” is for dramatic effect, but not entirely.)   I have mused about why it is so common for those not in the teaching profession to presume they have a high level of expertise.   I recall that, before I was married with 4 kids, I was the world’s greatest expert on how to raise kids.  What made things even worse was that I was a “psychology major”!!! (Theme from the movie “Jaws” in the background. Oops! Mind wandered.)   Anyway, by the time JoAnn, our youngest, turned 21, I had learned my lesson. This is no reflection on how my kids turned out; they’re great...thanks to their mother.
    Back to the point, I think that I know why there are so many teaching “experts” who haven’t blessed the industry with their presence.   Two reasons: Most people who opine about teachers at all, have a vested and emotional stake in the quality of education.   They correctly assume that a good education for their children will increase (but I hasten to add, NOT guarantee) the likelihood of a successful life.   (Don’t get me started on what constitutes a “successful life”.)   Additionally, the lack of achievement in the form of poor or mediocre grades, ...or not making “the team”...or getting into NHS...can be looked on as a poor reflection on parents.  (To this latter point, I say, “HOGWASH”!)
    As a coach,...and I did a boat-load of coaching...we had to deal within the boundaries of the philosophy of the school, the facilities available and a-whole-lot-of other intervening variables, while trying to provide the best possible program for our student-athletes.   On an emotional level, a parent’s reaction to a son or daughter who was “cut” from the team or who didn’t make the starting line-up was 10 times greater than for a poor math grade.   I’ve heard fathers say, “I’ve seen my boy hit those 15-footers in the driveway.  No way those other kids are better” or “My daughter can rally with the best of the men at our racket club...even the ones that don‘t need walkers.   Clearly she should be playing first-singles.”   (For those of you not versed in the culture of tennis, “first singles” is a good thing.)   I will only divulge the most egregious examples of parent complaints that I’ve heard over a pint or two of Guinness or a Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s in Nawlins.
    The second reason is that everyone has seen teachers teach.   We were all students for 12, 16 or more years, and we’ve seen teachers and coaches that we liked or didn’t like, good or bad.   Few people have an opinion about whether a heart surgeon or CPA is good at his or her job.   Who knows if someone is a good heart-surgeon, CPA except those in the profession.   I suspect if you died during surgery, or went to jail for tax-evasion, you’d probably form an opinion.
    Well, for the moment, to quote Forrest Gump, “That’s all I've got to say about that.”   I imagine that, for those of you who are convinced that teachers are “LIGS“, at best, you won’t agree with my reflection.   At worst, you’ll be angry, and try to dissolve the union I’m in.   Save your time; no union.
     Have a good day!

Reflection #18 (Only 1058 to go!): THE Ghost Story

     Occasionally, I meet someone associated with Saint Ignatius and Holy Family Church who is not familiar with THE ghost story. Actually, I know three (or four or five, depending on how you count them) ghost stories, but the most renowned pertains to Father Damen, who was the founder of both Holy Family Parish and Saint Ignatius "College". This is certainly an instance where one story easily morphs into another. I'll try to keep myself under control.
     I should probably also make the disclaimer that I did no research on what I tell you. This is a part of the oral tradition passed along to me very early in my career...kind of like the Old Testament before they discovered paper. As a part of that "tradition", I understand that Fr. Damen, a German Jesuit and the man after whom Damen Avenue is named, founded the church and the schools to serve the Irish immigrants in the mid-1800's.
     Here's the version of the story that I heard: One day, sometime in late 1800's, after saying mass, Fr. Damen was approached by two altar boys who asked him if he would come to their house and give their mother the last rites. She was gravely ill.  He said that he would, and they told him where they "lived". Father did not recognize the boys, but that was not unusual since Holy Family was a very large parish.
     When he had finished putting his vestments away, he went to the address he had been given.  There, he found a very old lady who was clearly near death, and he gave her the last rites, what we used to call extreme unction. When he finished the blessing, he stayed briefly to visit with the lady, and she asked him how he knew to come there. He told her about the two altar boys and their request. He said he thought that they said their mother was ill, but they must have said "grandmother".  She asked him to describe the boys, and when he did, she began to cry.  She told him that she did have two sons...only two sons...and they both died in a drowning accident when they were about the age of the boys Father indicated.
     He firmly believed he had been sent to her by the ghosts of her dead sons. To commemorate his experience, Father Damen commissioned two statues of the altar boys to be placed above, and looking toward, the altar in the sanctuary, where they can be seen to this day.  Next time you're there, take a look. Rumor has it that the boys eyes follow the priests as they move around the altar.
     Three final points: 1) Phyllis Myers, recently retired secretary in the principal's office, has a book written by Richard Crowe, the Chicago ghost hunter, which has a slightly different version, but the main theme is the same.
2) I probably shouldn't say this until I'm completely retired, but I'm not much of a ghost-believer, and I've never seen a ghost in either Ignatius or Holy Family...but...
3) I know others, whose veracity (look it up!) I respect, who say that they have had super-natural (ghostly) experiences here.
     Just saying!