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These three teachers combined have over 100 years worth of experience - what keeps them coming back each year?
This September, I will attend the 50th reunion of Andrew Lewis High School’s class of 1970. In all probability, most attendees will have retired, and I will likely be one of the few that hasn’t. Actually, I’ve never really stopped going to school. As after college, for the past 46 years I’ve taught high school English at one school or another – the past 31 at Lord Botetourt.
More than a few may be thinking right now that “with kids these days the way they are,” I must be crazy. The truth is that the vast majority of students “these days” are wonderful young people. And at age 68, I truly love what I do and look forward to this fall for what my students can teach me and how I can help them become lifetime learners. At least two more area teachers feel the same way.
Fred Campbell, Salem High School
Sixty-year-old Fred Campbell taught for four years for Roanoke City, spent three years as a substitute while attaining his masters and performing as a standup comedian and is about to begin his 31st year at Salem High School. Why is he still teaching?
“Where else could I go where I would get paid to talk every day about the things I love: great novels, short stories and poetry,” says the English teacher. “Plus, I get to read what my students feel about all these things. When young people find something in a piece of literature that they can really latch on to, great moments can happen just about every day.”
Over the years, Campbell says that he has experienced many of these sublime moments. Certainly one of them was when his Salem High School Academic Team won the state Scholastic Bowl in 2003. A “great continuing moment,” he says has been his association with the school’s literary magazine.
“I’ve been able to build relationships with not only a long line of great young people, but also with community members who support these students and contribute money to their writing and art work,” he says.
Campbell adds that another gratifying part of his career has been nurturing so many accomplished young writers. One of the premier ones is former student Eric McMillian, who graduated from Salem in 1995, became a captain in the U.S. Army, and then sold short stories; his first novel will appear this year. Allie Hoback is another, currently working on her Master of Fine Arts in poetry from Syracuse University, and has published several poems.
“When I see young people come in with that spark and passion to become great writers, then see them develop into ones … well, what could be better?” Campbell says.
Mary Lou Hagen, Green Valley Elementary
Roanoke County music teacher Mary Lou Hagen begins her 32nd year at Green Valley Elementary this autumn. Before that, she spent two years teaching at both Fort Lewis and West Salem elementary schools before taking 15 years off to raise her children. Hagen’s husband, Bo, retired from teaching in 2003, but she is not ready to do so.
“Teaching music to elementary school children is what I love, so why should I retire,” she says. “I’m very much looking forward to this school year starting.”
The 70-year-old Salem resident says her proudest moment was helping to start and continue Green Valley’s Veterans Day Program. It immediately became an annual event and many other area schools have followed Green Valley’s lead in creating programs honoring area veterans.
“In January 1991, my principal came to me and said he wanted to do something to support our troops involved in Desert Storm,” she says. “He explained that he would like an assembly program that would involve all kids in every grade level, kindergarten through fifth grade, and that we would videotape the performance so it could be sent overseas. We decided that the students would perform the official songs of all five service branches: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard, along with other patriotic songs and poems.”
Hagen quickly agreed to the request and asked her principal how much time she had to prepare; the answer was “about three weeks.” It was then that she realized the magnitude of the performance. Nevertheless, the program proved to be a huge success.
“All of the teachers bonded together and helped, and the kids did a great job,” she says.
Every year but one since then, Hagen and staff have coordinated a school wide Veterans Day Program on or around November 11, honoring family and community veterans and active military. A veteran wall of thanks has grown to over 60 posters with more than a thousand names.
“I have personally typed every name while thinking of the sacrifices each person has made,” she says. “We also make sure that the event is never political. We just want to thank our soldiers for their service.”
Hagen says she has also been privileged to introduce thousands of students to the wonders of music, but certainly one of her many memorable individuals is Brandon Muse who “loved to march.”
“I remember telling Brandon that he was ‘born to lead the band,’” she says. “So, I was thrilled to hear from Brandon about 10 years after I taught him that he was leading a choral group at his church.
“But I’m proud of all my students. It’s very important to me to try to make a positive impact on every child, every day, and instill a love of music. Music was created to make people feel joyful. My mission is to share that joy with every student I teach, every single day.”
Bruce Ingram, Lord Botetourt High School
Teaching is indeed a joy, and this fall, I’ll be fortunate to once again teach such classics as “Night,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Animal Farm” to my freshmen. They will also research their favorite snacks, plan a 1930s meal when we study that decade and create their own Shakespeare-themed skit (replete with Elizabethan insults) when we study Romeo and Juliet.
I’ll marvel at the new interpretations my sophomores come up with when we read “Of Mice and Men,” “Lord of the Flies” and “Hamlet.” The tenth graders will also research their family trees, and have the opportunity to instruct their peers after they research some aspect of World War II or the Cold War.
My Creative Writing students will daily dazzle me with their short stories, essays, and responses to prompts, and they’ll experience discussions where we dissect the movies of such directors as Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder. All my classes will play Bonus Points, a fast-paced game where the student teams have five seconds to spell, define, or use vocabulary words in sentences. Do you know what the word defenestration means? Who wouldn’t feel privileged to have a job like this.
Note: Bruce Ingram’s Creative Writing class at Lord Botetourt proofread this story.
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