patriotism | Spirit of Cecilia

BY RICHARD K. MUNRO

I was a classroom teacher for over 34 years. Mostly 9-12 but also junior college. I graded AP exams for almost 18 years. What keeps a teacher motivated? What makes a teacher great?

#1 A teacher has to believe in his school, his community, his country and in a larger sense his civilization. I am and always have been grateful my my country and the freedoms and opportunities that it afforded me.

#2 A good teacher has to believe in his subject material like a doctor believes in health. If a teacher is enthusiastic and knowledgeable in his subject area(s) this will influence students in a positive way. It is unfortunate that one must deal with a lot of indifference and anti-intellectualism in American education. But having done what men must a teacher suffers and endures many things for many days and many years. Enduring a lack of respect for his profession is one of those things.

#3 a good teacher is flexible and can “fill in” temporarily as a substitute or tutor but should know his assigned subject as well as possible and continue to improve his knowledge and expertise.

I was very strong as a Foreign Language (Spanish) and ESL (English teacher) and I taught Social Studies as well (mostly to immigrant English learners). I was not a great baseball or soccer coach BUT I shared my love of the games with my students and used the sports to promote English and character building. I am proudest that my teams were composed of eligible players. I cared more about their academic performance and personal happiness than winning championships.

#4 A good teacher cares for his students. He gets to know them and understands his or her background and community.

His love is a philia love kind of love for his students. He wants what is best for them and helps them as much as possible. I encouraged an amateur interest in classic movies, documentaries, literature, history and reading about sports and sports officiating. Teaching in a rural area many of my students joined the military. A few went to the service academies. Once five students from one class came back to visit from Camp Pendleton (USMC) in uniform. I was very proud of them. We sang the MARINE HYMN together from memory. The greatest burden I experienced as a teacher was to attend funerals of students killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I remained proud of their service.

A good teacher avoids having intimate relationships with his students outside of the classroom. I never dated a teacher or dated a student. One avoids temptation. It will be there especially for younger teachers in their 20s and 30s. But if you love your students you will not hurt them. You will want to see them happy and successful.

#5 A good teacher works well and collaboratively with colleagues in his department and throughout the school. However, he stands up for order and tells the truth about school discipline or lack of it and school safety or lack of it. Once I backed up a student -one who had never been suspended or disciplined- for fighting in a soccer game. His mother had been cursed and reviled in a most despicable way. So he lost it. The referee had not heard it BUT I DID. I went to the principal and school board to say YES expelling him for the team permanently was an acceptable behavior but not expelling him from school when he was so near graduation and it was a first offense. Especially when the student who started the fight was not disciplined in any way. The student never played another game but later graduated.

It was not popular for me to say -it was embarrassing for some-I would grade our school security at D+ (we had no fences, could not lock our classrooms from the inside and were told we had to keep our doors unlocked at all times). I always knew a school massacre was always a possibility and one gun and one unlocked door away. A good teacher tells the truth not for his sake but for the sake of the community and the school’s integrity. One has to know WHEN to throw the gauntlet and when to challenge the Teacher’s Union or Administrators. Be prepared for retaliation and ever lasting enmity. One thing I learned was that if one doe not have the department chair and administrators on his side it is best to “vamoose.” You have to have someone batting for you on the administration side.

#6 No question a good teacher will volunteer for many school and community assignments and not expect financial recompense in most instances. For years I tutored former students who were in JC or college or gave them advice for research papers. I was a Church catechist for over 20 years. I didn’t leave for doctrinal differences. I left because under a new regime they wanted me to “guide” non-academic classes with no Scripture or Bible readings. I felt I was not needed for arts and crafts. So I resigned. I don’t think I will go back. A good teacher must know when to vote with his feet. I was a strong advocate of ETS and AP classes and exams for almost 30 years. But I left in the end. My last ETS memory was not being complimented for my high productivity but chastised for going to the bathroom twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon. Not smoking breaks but calls of nature for a teacher past 60. I decided then and there that I was finished with ETS and AP. I served on many juries over the years (with ZERO compensation; I lost money on transportation and food). But I now have a medical exemption and think it unlikely I will ever return as a juror. I served my time as a soldier, as juror, as a teacher, as a coach. I worked very hard as a classroom teacher tutoring on Saturdays and working many nights and summers. But I never neglected my own children’s education, my wife or my home. It is one of the reasons I never took up golf.

It is hard but a good teacher must accept disappointments and if his school or assignments are unacceptable he must MOVE (apply for a transfer) or RETIRE. I have done both. There were times I wanted to quit but I could not as I was hostage to fortune as it was essential to have health insurance and economic security for my family. But when things were bad I prepared to make a strategic retreat over time and I exercised this smoothly. It helped that I had a free and clear car and money in the bank and solid credit.

I still am interested in education but am now retired. I have no interest to return to the classroom though I still promote education and encourage it in others. But I have decided to spend the rest of my life continuing MY OWN EDUCATION and doing things I never had the time for like studying Italian and Greek. I swim every day. Spend time in my garden. Listen to entire baseball games and read all the box scores. Read only to inform myself and for pleasure. Listen to podcasts. See a movie (at home) now and then especially the old classics. I spend as much time as possible with my grandchildren. When they are here I put away my phone do not watch sports but play games with them, do puzzles and swim in the pool. I enjoy having breakfast and dinner with them (no phones no TV or electronic devices). I tell them stories. I speak to them in several languages and encourage them to be budding polyglots. All are fluent in two languages and have been introduced to several more through music and cultural events.

#7 LAST BUT NOT LEAST. A good teacher does not sacrifice his family life or faith life for his school. A good teacher has balance in his life. HE TAKES CARE OF HIS HEALTH. And he prepares for a life beyond and outside of the classroom, school, and education.

Daily writing prompt

What makes a teacher great?

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September 11, 2020

19 Years Later, We Still Remember

Brad Birzer

Today, we celebrate—and remember, as we promised we would never forget—the 19^th anniversary of the tragic events; that is, the brutal attack on American lives, on American rights, and on American soil led by a fundamentalist terrorist.

19 is an odd number, and yet an important number. As I give this talk, I’ve been at this college 21 years. My oldest son, Nathaniel, is a senior and 21 years old. My oldest daughter, Gretchen, is 19 years old and a sophomore.

19 years, indeed, has been a lifetime for many of you standing here.

Not atypically, I was teaching back-to-back Western Heritage courses the morning of the attacks. One 8:00 section, one 9:30 section. We were most likely on Pericles or Socrates. In between the two, a flustered student told me about the events in New York, but, of course, everything was confused. Later that morning, my wife, Dedra, and I ran into President Arnn in the old Ethen Allen Room—who informed us quite rightly that Hillsdale would continue the day in class, as it’s exactly what the terrorists would NOT want.

I’m sure no one in this crowd is shocked by Dr. Arnn’s strength of character.

2,977 Americans died on 9/11. Lives were silenced, then; and, by executive order, the skies were silenced. On that day, there were victims, there were first responders, there were heroes; all were American.

My favorite story—one that never ceases to get to me—is about one of the passengers on Flight 93: Tom Burnett—a 38-year old Wall Street Banker, father of three girls, husband to a beautiful wife, and a devout Christian. This man, a former college football player for St. John’s College in Minnesota, a lover of business as well as of ancient Greek philosophy, helped two other courageous American men drive a jet airliner into rural Pennsylvania soil on a clear September morning, 2001. “We’re all going to die, but three of us are going to do something about it. I love you honey.” These were his last words to his wife on his cell phone.

Liberty and sacrifice. I was teaching that in Western Heritage that morning, and I was witnessing it all around us.

And, here we stand at Central Hall, September 11, 2020. Right there, is our moment to men who died on Pennsylvania soil.

Indeed, numerous Hillsdale men sacrificed their lives at the Battle of Gettysburg (in and around a little Lutheran town). The 24^th Michigan on July 1; the 4^th Michigan on July 2. Each day, Hillsdale College men sacrificed themselves for something greater than each of them. They sacrificed for each other, for the college, for the republic. They sacrificed for us.

Liberty and sacrifice—these words, these themes, keep coming back to me and, I hope, to all of us.

And, I am reminded of one of the greatest of republican martyrs, Marcus Tullius Cicero, murdered by his executive in 43BC. He wrote, profoundly,

“Before our own time, the customs of our ancestors produced excellent men, and eminent men preserved our ancient customs and the institutions of their forefathers. But the republic, when it came to us, was like a beautiful painting, whose colours, however, were already fading with age, our own time not only has neglected to freshen it by renewing the original colours, but has not even taken the trouble to preserve its configuration and, so to speak, its general outlines. For what is now left of the ‘ancient customs’ one which he said ‘the republic of Rome’ was ‘founded firm’? They have been, as we see, so completely buried in oblivion that they are not only no longer practiced, but are already unknown.

And what shall I say of the men? For the loss of our customs is due to our lack of men, and for this great evil we must not only give an account, but must even defend ourselves in every way possible, as if we were accused of capital crime. For it is through our own faults, not by any accident, that we retain only the name of republic, but have long since lost its essence” [Cicero, The Republic, Book 5, Section 1]

As we live in a season of confusion, I wonder if we could write this not just of 43BC but of 2020AD.

And, yet, no matter what, the sacrifices remain. . . the voices are not silent. . . the sky is not silent.

Let us remember—those voices silenced on 9/11. Let us remember the victims. Let us remember the first responders. Let us remember the heroes. Americans all. And, let us be like Cicero. Let us be like the 4^th and the 24^th Michigan regiments. Let us be like Tom Burnett.

May our colors never fade, may our voices never cease, may our skies rage: liberty and sacrifice.

God bless, America.

[I had the grand privilege of giving this talk to the Hillsdale College community at noon on September 11, 2020.]

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