By Joe Rector
Finding interesting shows on television is becoming harder for me. The programs on the big networks just don’t hold any appeal to me. The news stations repeat the same things all day long, and even the sports channels don’t capture my attention unless Tennessee or Caitlin Clark is playing.
That’s not to say some programs are excellent. The problem is finding which streaming stations they are on. “The Pitt” is probably my favorite program; I believe it comes closer to real life than any other show I’ve watched on any channel. A few years ago, Amy and I binge-watched “Justified.” I’ve found “West Wing” again and might just start at the beginning of it and go through the years with those characters again.
I have found a new program on Prime that has sucked me in. Called “Murder 101,” the show and its cast are “real” folks. The premise of this program is that a teacher at Elizabethan High School and his students in a sociology class have for several years worked to find the killer(s) of red-haired young girls. Alex Campbell isn’t a super-hero or devilishly good-looking individual. Instead, he is a normal high school teacher with one special quality: he teaches his students skills by having them participate in the investigations. I never saw a textbook during the three episodes. Campbell cranked out copies of materials for his students and then encouraged them to work diligently to come up with new evidence to solve murders. Campbell is one of those special teachers who has put in years of work to make sure that students left his classroom with more than a passing grade on some useless state or federal exam.
I remember those teachers who were so influential in my public-school education. One was Lucy Slusher. She taught English during my seventh and eighth grade years. Mrs. Slusher insisted that students diagram sentences; she demanded we work on spelling each week; and most of all, she taught us discipline and a hard work ethic. The only new things I learned after two years with her were what gerunds, participles, and infinitives were.
Another good elementary teacher was Mr. Stewart. He taught science and coached boys’ basketball. I never learned much of the science-related stuff, but I learned plenty about team building and playing basketball. I wasn’t a great guard, but I could dribble the ball well enough to advance down court and find open teammates who scored the points. Joe Stewart was the quietest man I’ve ever met, and he had such a serious look on his face that only when he eased into a grin did students know he was teasing.
I spent the sixth-grade year with classmates in a storefront that had been converted into three classrooms. Ball Camp Elementary burned that year, and it was because of the efforts of Bill Fowler that we learned and enjoyed the year. Mr. Fowler was well-versed in every subject, and he demanded that we put forth the effort required to be successful. In that class, he assigned us the making of a scrapbook and the writing of a paper about President Kennedy, who had been killed that November.
I remember four high school teachers well. First was Ruth Wiggington. She taught sophomore English, and I also took her summer school senior English Class. She taught Shakespeare with full sound effects. That might sound strange, but she did so to keep classes interesting. Jack Thomas was the band director who arrived during my sophomore year. He took a band program in shambles and built it into one of the best in the area. His skinny little frame would flit about during marching band practices, and he made sure our marching was excellent. What Jack did best was to instill pride in a bunch of country students. I’d say most of us have carried at least a bit of that pride throughout our lives.
Stanley Underwood taught American history. However, he did much more than that. He taught his students to think and to defend their positions. During the hotbed of the Vietnam War, Mr. Underwood made sure we made decisions based more on fact than on emotion. I never enjoyed any class more than his.
Milton Nelson was the choir director at Karns High. He was a task master who worked his ensembles fiercely. When spring break came around each year, he loaded up the choir and took them to other states to sing concerts. Many of us saw places we’d only heard about and developed deeper friendships with others in the choir. Mr. Nelson made me want to be a choir director, but college led me toward the English department. I still sing and think about that good, kind man.
So, Mr. Alex Campbell, I send you my deepest admiration for the job you’ve done in your classroom. I tried to do some of the same things during my 30-year career in Knox County Schools. You know what students need and what is most important for their lives ahead. I salute you and wonder if you have ever been named the Teacher of the Year in Tennessee. If you haven’t, then my question is why not. I challenge your former and future students to use some of their abilities to make that happen. Thank you for making education what it should be.
For those of you who are reading this, maybe you should take time and drop lines to those teachers that meant so much to you. If they are gone, discover the contacts for the families and let them know what those teachers meant to you.
