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Those Who Pave The Way

In my days of teaching history, part of the curriculum dealt with those who trail-blazed, so to speak. It focused on those who came before us and discovered, invented, recorded and taught those who came after them, hoping to make better lives for them, and then to pass along what they learned and added to so future generations could do the same.

I was fortunate, more accurately, blessed, with many opportunities in my life. I’ve been able to be a part of many amazing challenges and events too. Having been able to experience these opportunities, challenges and events, though, involved many who blazed trails for me and took chances on me. I tried to work hard to justify their faith in me. To them, I send my utmost gratitude and respect for making them possible for me.

I had some great teachers, mentors and guides throughout my life. My parents top the list. I know I never said it to their faces much, if at all, but there were no people I respected more for not only all they did for us, but all they taught us in how to be people, workers and parents. Most of that teaching came from the example they gave us to follow as we were growing up.

I had some awesome role models growing up, too. My aunts, uncles, older cousins, some of my friends’ parents, parish priests, youth group leaders, sports coaches and community leaders all played a huge part in my life. Many of them showed a lot of patience in having to deal with a kid who pushed the limits, who tried to bend the rules as far as he could and who was not always the most pleasant to be around. But they stuck with me and must have seen something that made them tolerate and hang on to me. I’m eternally grateful they did.

When I was 15, I became a baseball umpire. There were many legends of officiating in Jamestown who taught me the rules of the game and also how to handle situations, deal with people who disagreed with some of my calls or decisions, block out some opinions and oral evaluations spectators had of my performance or who questioned my eyesight and the abilities of my optometrist.

Throughout school, I had some amazing teachers all the way through college. Some of them I even got to be colleagues with when I went into teaching and was hired in Jamestown. When I became an educator in Jamestown, there were many who took us younger colleagues and guided us in classroom management techniques, handling conferences, thinking and teaching outside the box when possible to get the most from our students. They also got us involved with the union side of our profession, giving us a better understanding of the contact under which we taught, and they fought for all teachers to give us the best opportunities to do our jobs, have fair salaries and enjoy benefits to help us raise our families, too.

During my career, I also had the opportunities to work with kids outside the classroom. I was able to engage students in field experiences which were extremely valuable as learning opportunities for them. I thank all who gave the okay for us to be able to do those things.

I had opportunities to coach sports I love. I had great mentors who taught me about coaching and planning and conducting practices, and running a program. Those people, and the lessons they taught me, allowed me to move up to become a head coach on the varsity level.

As stated, I’ve been blessed with many opportunities in my life, and I can also add my opportunities in relationships (i.e. husband, father, and grandfather). None of those would be possible without those who cleared paths for me to be able to do them, those who taught and guided me in them. If I tried to list all these people I’d certainly forget some, as the list is far too long to get them all, so I will collectively thank all who had a hand in all the opportunities I’ve been able to experience in my life. Thanks so much for helping me on my journey, and to those of you who came after me, never forget those who cleared your way and do the same for the next group.

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