Reflection #24 (Only 1052 to go!): The Art of Being Smart

     I have no illusions about my own intelligence; in the realm of "smart" people, I admit to being an outsider looking in.  One the other hand, one of the two smartest people that I've ever known personally is the recently retired physics and math teacher, John Balaban.  (Y'all can argue over who is the other one!)  John is also a friend of mine, but there were a couple of reasons why I was hesitant to write this blog.  It bordered on being POLITICAL (yikes!), and that is a can of worms into which I choose not to climb.
     My true purpose here is to express my admiration for how John uses his intelligence.  Being at Ignatius has put me in close proximity to a large number of smart people...not only students but colleagues.  A common, but not universal, trait is that many equate intelligence with truth, and become dismissive of those who disagree.  Truth to them is about who wins the debate, not objective reality.  At this point, of course, the argument starts about "what is objective reality"...I think that's called "epistemology".  (Don’t mess with a Loyola U. grad when it comes to the names of philosophy courses.)
     John seeks what is right, true and just, but he continues to observe reality, modifying, confirming or rejecting his opinions.  If John doesn’t think much of the “king’s new clothes“, he’ll say so.  (Reference Hans Christian Anderson)
     John, and his wife, Jane, are strong advocates for environmental issues.  As a teacher, he would regularly take groups of students out into the "wilds" of north-eastern Illinois to clean up river banks and the like.  On careers days at school, he would lecture on the value of preserving the wetlands and savannas.  (Until I heard John’s lecture, I thought savannas were just cities in Georgia.)
     He and Jane were so committed to the cause that, in 1997, they received The Nature Conservancy President's Stewardship Award in Washington, D.C., and locally, they received a stewardship award from the Chicago Wilderness and Audubon Society.
     My point, however, is that John evaluates his principles, reconsidering their effectiveness.  One day years ago, John and I were talking about "cabbages and kings", and he said that those who are 100% against nuclear power as a source of energy wouldn't be very happy if that source suddenly disappeared.  As I prepared to write this blog, I asked John if he still felt the same in the wake of what happened in Japan this year.  The response that I got could easily have been a whole blog by itself.  The essence of his response was that civilization has to deal realistically with factors as they are, not some idealistic view of the way we wish it were. 
     To sum up, John uses his "smarts" correctly, blending his observations with his intelligence to make good decisions.  Afterwards, he critiques that decision.
     Finally, John was a heck of a teacher.   The Mathematic Teachers’ Association awarded him the prestigious Wagner Award for excellence in teaching.  Watching John prepare Ignatius’ brightest math students for a math competition was a joy to behold.  On the other hand, Darcy Regan (’84) identified him as her favorite teacher because of his willingness to help students who didn‘t happen to be the other smartest person I know.
     Congratulations, John, on a life well-spent...so far. 

Reflection #22 (Only 1054 to go!): My Life Is "Golden"

     I am posting this blog on September 5, 2011 to celebrate. While most of America is celebrating Labor Day, I will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the day that I started working at Saint Ignatius. Back then, it was called Saint Ignatius High School.
     It has been a most wonderful and rewarding experience.  Whether it was the Hand of God or just dumb luck, I can only say a prayer of thanksgiving for my good fortune.  Officially, I retired 7 years ago, but I'm really only semi-retired, since I continue to teach summer school, participate in alumni-related events as well as a host of other school related activities.
     I have had the privilege of teaching and coaching outstanding young people, and interacting with their parents.  I've been blessed to have worked with the likes of Pat O'Mara, Frank Raispis, Bob Gabric, Fr. Mark Link and countless other talented and inspiring colleagues.  By shear dint of their personalities and commitment, I was constantly motivated to do my best.
     My relationship with Saint Ignatius has been more than a job.  It has truly defined my life.  Most of my best friends are teachers, or former teachers, at Ignatius.  The greatest blessing for me is that Ignatius was where I met the lady who became my wife.  Together, Mary Jo and I have raised four terrific children (all Ignatius graduates, I hasten to add), and now we are grandma and grandpa to the 8 most beautiful and intelligent grandchildren God ever put on this Earth.  (That's not just an opinion; that's a fact.)  They're also great athletes. I'm just saying!
     SUFFICE IT TO SAY, I am proud of having been involved in the history of this wonderful school...through the good times and the bad.  I have felt blessed beyond anything I would have had a right to expect.  Today, I will celebrate this anniversary by sitting on my patio with my wife, enjoying a grilled hamburger and a beer...probably a Guinness.  Do I know how to party or what!!!
     Ohh! Wait!  I think the coals are ready.  Happy Labor Day!

Blog #21: Only 1055 to go: Driving the bus

#21: Driving the Bus

     I have often told new teachers, "The teacher who can teach and drive the school bus is more valuable than the one who can only teach".   It’s harder to replace the person who has more than one skill.  Years ago, the running gag among the staff regarding one of the members of the maintenance crew was that he'd never be fired because he was the only one who knew how to work the furnace.
     That brings me to my real point.  I've never considered myself a cornerstone; I'm more like mortar that “fills in” the gaps where needed.  I believe that I used this same metaphor, when I wrote about Ray Kizelevicus.
     During a short hiatus from coaching in the late '70's, on two different occasions, I was asked to coach a team that was coachless.  Both times, I teamed up with another teacher to fill the gap.  The first time, the 1976 sophomore baseball season was in danger of being cancelled because there was no coach.  Fr. Stan Wisniewski and I had agreed, independent of one another, to coach if there was another adult to help.  I had coached the sophomores from 1963 until 1969 and, while Father wasn't much of an athlete, he loved baseball, and he was more than happy to do the clerical work while I hit fungoes and pitched batting practice.
     We were the quintessential “odd couple“. A 5’6” heavyset priest, and a slender (just kidding) math teacher...but he and I had been friends from the early '60's.  I had always respected him for his intelligence and spirit; he had always enjoyed listening to me speak because he found it a challenge, when I started a sentence, to try to guess where I was going with it.  Really we just liked each other and we had a similar sense of humor.  Father passed away several years ago, and he is one of the many former colleagues that have gone to their final reward that I miss these days.
     The second time that I was pressed into service as a coach was in 1979.  The tennis team was without a coach, and John Chandler and I were asked to fill in.  That was a little more daunting; neither John nor I had any background in tennis.  Our philosophy was pretty simple:  make sure the players had a place to practice and were able to get there, make sure that we had the equipment we needed, and make sure we got the players to the matches.
     Astonishingly, Ignatius won the Catholic League Championship, and we had a doubles team that ended up 6th in the state.  Heaven only knows how far they would have gone if they had coaches who knew which end of the racket to hold.  Truth be told, John and I were blessed with some outstanding players.  The first and second singles players were Russ Elderkin and Santiago Alva respectively, both high ranking players, and the rest of the lineup was talented beyond anything that we had a right to expect.
>An interesting sidelight, from our point of view, was that John and I were summarily released as tennis coaches at the end of the season, but it was legitimate.  Rich Kehoe, who relocated from Loyola Academy to SICP, took over the tennis program and he was a bona fide tennis coach.

Reflection #20 (Only 1056 to go!): A Turning Point(Pt. 1)

Reflection #20 (Only 1056 to go!): A Turning Point(Pt. 1)
     The Saturday evening of Dec. 18, 1976 at the Auditorium Theater was a magical evening. Bob Hope did a benefit performance for Saint Ignatius College Prep, entitled "Hope For Ignatius". Most of the time, when the phrase "magical" is used, it refers to a prom or a concert that is particularly well-done. I have to say that this event had a greater element of magic than just being good.
     In mid-December of 1976, not only did Bob Hope do a benefit for us, but he brought Andy Williams and Dyan Cannon along. Williams was a big name singer in his own right, and host/star of his own variety TV show. Hope had talked him into appearing that night, and Williams was the headliner for the benefit the following year. Diane Cannon was a beautiful multi-talented actress who had earned several academy award nominations, but was probably more well-known for having been married to Cary Grant.
     To put it mildly, Ignatius was going through a rough patch financially at that time. I am not privy to all of the details or causes (although I have some thoughts on the matter), but, as I understand it, we were not far from closing. As tuition necessarily increased, the enrollment dropped. If one looks at the class pictures for the years of the late '70's, the size of the graduating classes were significantly smaller than before or after those years.
     I’ve heard a few variations about how the benefit came to be, but essentially the story seems to be that Father Bowen, the president of Ignatius, had placed an ad in a magazine saying that St. Ignatius was “looking for an angel”. At about the same time that Hope saw the ad, he received a letter from Father Bowen asking for help by way of a benefit on behalf of the school.
     Hope contacted Irv Kupcinet, the very popular newspaper columnist of the time, and asked him if we were worth the effort. Kup vouched for us, and, in fact, was the MC for the event. Mayor Daley (the 1st) was the “honorary chairman” of the event. For younger readers, I'm not sure that Bob Hope's style would have been all that entertaining, but for people of my generation and older (Raispis), he was great.
     Now why do I say that this night was "magical" beyond just being a great show? Because the fortunes of the school seemed to turn on that event. Not only did the concert bring in (by Ignatius' standards) a lot of money, but the whole atmosphere of the place changed. Suddenly there was an optimism and new-found spirit that had been dwindling at that time.
     Many will argue Ignatius going co-ed was the critical turn-around moment, and I won’t deny its impact, but from the moment of the “Bob Hope Benefit”, the energy of the school jumped dramatically. We had real traction. All of a sudden the school had vitality. I truly wonder if we would have survived until the year young ladies were accepted (1979) into the school, had it not been for that “magical” night.

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!

Reflection #17 (Only 1059 to go!): The End of Times

     Do you recognize the name Harold Camping? If not, he is the man who predicted that the world would end on May 21, 2011. Actually, he said that the "rapture" and Judgment Day would be on that date. While I didn't believe that it would happen, I also didn't write my June 1st blog until May 22...just in case.
     Harold seems like a genuinely nice man who truly believed what he predicted. Afterward he expressed embarrassment and apologized for the miscalculation. My thought was, "No apologies necessary; I'm pretty happy that it didn't happen." I think for most of us, life is like a poor restaurant; no matter how bad the food was, the worst complaint is that there wasn't enough. (FYI, he has since had a stroke, as a result of stress that followed his prediction; for that I feel a little sorry for him.)
     Harold's prediction and its failure to materialize prompted this recollection. In October of 1962, we had our own brush with "The End of Times". If  anyone reading this blog is old enough to remember that month, I want to bring you back to the "Cuban Missile Crisis".  I was in my 2nd year of teaching at Saint Ignatius High School...not College Prep.
     The set-up: At the end of World War II, the U.S.A went from being a nervous ally of Russia to being the vanguard against Russia's apparent desire for world domination. For four years, there was a contentious relationship between Russia and the U.S.A., Then one day in Sept. of 1949, we found out that the Russians had “the bomb”. Through the early ‘50’s, there was paranoia, the "red scare", bomb shelters in homes, the Strategic Air Command and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the "Dooms-Day Clock"...always set a couple of minutes before midnight.
     By 1962, the Russians had already launched rockets capable of carrying atomic war-heads long distances, and they were starting to erect them in Cuba, which was the first official Communist country in the western hemisphere. There was no question about their intent. Those rockets could reach every city in the U.S.
     [Me being a smart a--: Luckily, we had mastered the technology of atomic bomb-resistant school desks. In case of a nuclear attack, the students were to get under their desks. We can only imagine how much longer the War-in-the-Pacific would have lasted if the Japanese had developed that technology.]
     The Result: The story is longer and more complex, but toward the end of October, 1962, President Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuban ports. For seven days, Russian cargoe ships carrying rocket parts approached Cuban waters.  The long-awaited war was at hand. There had been no bill-boards warning us of the end, or radio preachers to tell us how to spend our waning moments, but we all knew we were all going to die. The "Dooms Day Clock" had mere seconds to go. Both sides had enough nuclear weapons to wipe out humanity many times over, and this was it.
     On October 28th, the Russian leader, Nikita Khrushchev offered to remove their missiles from Cuba if we would remove ours from Turkey.
     The Ignatius connection: During one of those days, as I was teaching one of my classes, there was a sudden loud "booom" from the direction of the lake. That's it. It's all over. Then we were told that naval pilots were practicing their super-sonic flights over Lake Michigan; it was a so-called sonic-boom. I know that the story sounds like it "fizzles", but, to those of us who experienced it, it was a high-anxiety snap-shot moment that illuminated our mortality.
     Some have said that the reason the good old days were good was because we know that we have survived them. I survived the missile crisis, but I don't feel those days were all that good. At 23-years-old, I wasn't ready to "leave this vale of tears", if you get my drift.  Ya know! At 72, I'm still not ready. As with the poor restaurant, life isn't perfect, but there still hasn't been enough.