Van Horn and Other Friends - Teachers

Van Horn and Other Friends - Teachers

I taught school off and on for almost 40 years, more off than on.  I began as a very young man by teaching in Sedalia, took a break for several years, went to Alaska to teach Eskimo children, and ended my career as an English as a Second Language teacher at Northeast High School.

I have often asked myself if I had ever made any difference in the lives of the students I touched.  I have recently heard from several students of years ago via Face Book and of course they have nice things to say, but we don’t remain in touch on a personal basis, just read what the other has posted now and then. 

There is a Face Book page now called Van Horn Friends.  I read it almost daily and now and then contribute.  Most of the VH Friend contributors I do not recall immediately because they seem to range from 1960 into the 70’s.  I enjoy reading what they have to say.

Recently the question was asked who was your favorite teacher at Van Horn.  I contributed that mine was Carl Simonie.  The teacher that seemed to get the most responses was a math teacher named Otto Kaifes.  It seems as though I am the only student that didn’t cross his path.

I decided to pull out my senior year book and go down the picture alphabet of the teachers that taught there my senior year and give a one or two word or sentence response as to my feelings about each represented after 46 years.

Mr. Curtis, principal – strict, would love to have had him as a principal if I was teaching, but not as a student.

Mr. Heine, vice principal – loved his job and his students.  They loved him.  He gave me more than one break.

Miss Johnson, counselor -  Could read me like a book and is mostly responsible for me becoming a teacher.  She asked me one day what I wanted to study in college and I told her I had thought about teaching.  She said she thought I would make a good one, because I had done everything a student was not supposed to do and my students would get by with very little.

Mr. Brower, science – He opened up a love of biological science.  I never did much with it, but he was organized and presented the material well.  I enjoyed his class and him personally.

Mr. Closson, history – A nice man but had no classroom control.  I never caused him any problems, mostly because I felt sorry for his classroom management inefficiencies.

Mr. Cofer, Chior – Nice man, but I suspect he only put up with me because I was dating his most prominent student.

Mr. Cross, Geometry – I never understood a word he said and was completely lost that year.  The only reason I passed the course was that a mistake was made by a student grading my test and she awarded me more points than I deserved.

Mr. Dehardt, gym – Over worked, tired most of the time due to working on the rail road after school.  A nice guy.

Mr. Fessler, Human Science – He was also the head foot ball coach.  He was very influential my entire four years and not a bad classroom teacher.  He kept you entertained.

Mr. Fields, Social Studies – Funny man but should have retired much earlier.  He would go to the school phone when the class was acting up and call for reinforcements.  He would always say also when a student for got his pencil, “would a soldier go into battle with out his gun.”

Mr. Klamm, Speech and Drama – He was legally blind but an excellent teacher.  He developed in me a love for the theater.  When I was in Alaska I looked him up on the internet and we passed several emails back and forh.  Heard he died recently.

Mr. McArthur, General Math – Excellent teacher, had good class room management and organization.

Mr. McCoy, Driver’s Ed – He was also one of my football coaches.  He was a great teacher a wonderful coach, and just an all around nice guy.  But would kick my ass in a minute when it needed it which was more than just once.

Mr. Medina, Latin – Knew Latin and Greek, taught us how to conjugate verbs in Latin.  He was a small man but a very good teacher and I don’t remember anyone ever giving him a hard time.  I still remember the first phrase he taught us in Latin and can still conjugate a few verbs.

Mrs. Mullen, Second year Latin,- I don’t remember a thing about her class other than she was pretty well versed in Latin history and would tell us stories about the Romans now and then.

Miss Palisowski, Art – She had a tendency to send me to the office now and then.  We did not get along very well.

Mr. Simonie, English – He gave me an appreciation for literature.  I remember very well the way he went about teaching us Julius Caesar, and can still recite some of the lines by heart.  The two other books he brought to my attention were Huckleberry Finn and The Tale of Two Cities, each I consider one of my favorites to this day. I wish I had his address so I could send him the books Ihave written.  I guess I ought to dedicate one to him.

Miss White, Civics – She provided an interesting introduction to impressionable youth as to what it meant to be an American.  She would often say she would rather be  “dead than red.”

Mrs. Esler, Nurse – She was also the nurse when I was in gradeschool.  She always seemed to like me and was interested in my well being because I was a Christian Scientist and did not take any of the polio vaccinations.  The interesting thing about her was that she was with her husband in Hawaii when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.  She said he got into a plane and headed out to chase the planes back to their carriers and he never returned.  The story had a real impact on me.

There were other teachers of course that were not pictured in my senior year book, only six of which I remember.

Mr. Fridell, Eighth Grade Common Learning’s – He brought history alive to me and one of the main reasons I became a history teacher. 

Mr. Reagan, Gym – He could get my attention pretty easily.

Mr. Fields, Gym – Not to be confused with the social studies teacher.  The difference was night and day.  He used his paddle on me several times, but I knew he liked me in spite of my shenanigans.  He and my great uncle had been high school friends and nothing I did at school went unnoticed at home.

Mrs. Anderson, English – Don’t remember much about her but I don’t think I caused her any problems.

Mr. Levesy, General Shop – A real good teacher.  He introduced me to different aspects of wood working and drafting.  When you messed up in his class he would make you do push ups.  The drafting section of his class enabled me to get a job many years later.

?, typing – Oddly enough the teacher who taught me the only skill that has been more beneficial than any other in my life I do not remember the name of.  We did not have any sort of relationship or interaction but some how I learned how to type and it was the only real skill I took away from high school.

I never knew what happened to most of my teachers.  I did run into Mr. Fridell at UMKC, he had received his Doctorate and was teaching history.  I was able to tell him what an inspiration he had been.  I saw Mr. Simonie at Block Buster’s once and he was most gracious in talking to me longer than one would normally expect.  Mr. Cofer I ran into at an art showing in Independence once and we did little more than say high etc.  For some reason while I was in Alaska I emailed Mr. Klamm and got a nice response.  I bumped into Mr. Levesy at a convenience store several years after high school and he remember me.  He said he was teaching vocational skills to handicapped people.  When we shook hands I noticed he had one less finger than I remembered.  I sort of thought it was funny, the handicapped teaching the handicap but kept my remarks to myself because I did not want for him to make me do push-ups.

I have heard a few of them have died, but most I have never seen or heard about since.