There were times, as a teacher, and coach, when I had topics to teach where I had to go back and reread, relearn, making sure I had accurate facts, dates, persons involved, so I wasn’t giving incorrect information to the students in my charge. I also wanted to present opportunities to my teams by traveling to pre-season tournaments in warmer weather to better prepare for our upcoming Interscholastic schedule, and with my summer travel teams to be able to play tougher competition, hopefully making them better ballplayers. There were also things we taught that might be easier to learn for our pupils, and players, if augmented with field experiences like a hands-on project, the creation of a poster, a guest speaker, a visit to a local place of science and/or history, tougher competition, or group projects the students put together in the classroom, planned out, and shared with the rest of the class or even school.

I’ve always felt education, scholastic and athletic, had to go beyond the four walls of the classroom or dugouts/benches. I believe the world is the greatest classroom there is for kids, and we tried to plan activities where the students could visit places where so much more learning could happen for them. Many of those centered around field experiences in and out of our community.

As a teacher and coach, I realized if we were going to give kids opportunities to experience that which would help them gain more knowledge, have fun, learn life skills, develop self-discipline, all within their world of education, it would cost extra money. Knowing some people have more than others, and not wanting to make any child self-conscious, or singled out, or not able to experience some of these activities, we fund-raised. We sold candy, we sold stromboli, calzones, pot pies, we sought donations from local service organizations, or clubs, we applied for grants offered by local businesses, anything we could to make sure all students were able to take part in those activities. But it wasn’t just about the money, there was a behavior and responsibility clause which was first and foremost that said school behavior, and completing work on time, was the first expectation students had to successfully meet. If they did that, they could be a part of the trip, or activity.

Some students had trouble with either of those expectations, and sometimes lost the opportunity for one or more of the field activities, but we created ways their fellow students might be able to help those kids earn them back. At times we devised a plan where, if the rest of the class agreed to let those students who “lost” the opportunity, “buy” their way back with good behavior and responsibility, and agreed to report incidents of good behavior, and responsibility, the student in jeopardy, could earn “Monopoly Money” to purchase back activities, if they lost them. This also lets the rest of the class pay a little more attention to that individual, take them under their wings, encourage them, and help them keep moving in the right direction. Good reports from the student’s teachers, the school staff, cafeteria workers, etc., could also earn them money to help them “buy” back a trip or an activity.

The types or trips we undertook were Three Day Outdoor Education Experiences at Camp Timbercrest, a trip to Cleveland (Science Center, Zoo, Rain Forest, Natural History Museum, and a Ballgame at Jacobs’ Field), one trip to Canada, lunch at our local Pizza Hut, an end-of-the-year day at Waldameer Park, earlier in my career, Chautauqua Institution, the Yorker’s Museum in Sherman, presentations at the Robert H. Jackson Center, Audubon Society, and hosting veterans on Veterans’ Day, hearing from many who served this country. In sports, we traveled to South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, locations in New York, and Missouri. It’s a shame many field activities aren’t being done as much as we had the opportunity to do them in our classroom/coaching days.

Some questioned the purposes for some of the activities, i.e. the Pizza Hut visit. Sometimes, kids needed to learn how to act respectfully in restaurants, place an order, figure out/leave tips, pay their own bill (with fundraised money given to them as we entered the restaurant), and how to properly act in public places. Those skills came back when we were staying in a hotel, eating in public places, etc., knowing our expectations for behavior in all places we visited, no matter where that was. I can honestly say we were highly successful in our efforts, evidenced by compliments received by strangers, and because of the continued support of our administration, School Board, the great number of wonderful adult volunteers whom we met with before the activities, our colleagues back at school, and the students themselves, who lived up to the expectations we set before we undertook each opportunity. It truly takes a village to raise (educate) a child.

Sadly, since retirement, I’ve visited places where groups who were sitting near us in restaurants, stadia, theaters, etc. and many times, were rude, or insensitive to others, not being aware of their surroundings by standing in front of someone who couldn’t see, or being too loud inside a public place, and their supervisors did very little, if anything at all, to correct that behavior. “Kids will be kids” seemed to be the theme in those instances.

Our feelings were “you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” Our kids didn’t wear their name on their shirts, but wore shirts with their teachers’, their school, and town’s names on them, and they didn’t have the right to bring shame/embarrassment to any of those people, places, or buildings. We set the bar high, and monitored, supervised, and attended to our kids, and in every situation, (with one minor problem, which was expediently dealt with and taken care of) our students hugely came through with flying colors.

I learned much from my parents who set expectations, established consistent consequences with all of us, and we didn’t end up too bad, though I had some mischievous moments in my youth, and paid the price my parents imposed on me.

I worked with amazingly special adults and special kids (some who may not have liked or agreed with certain things), but proved you can have expectations, and you can keep the bar high, but there needs to be expectations, consequences, and follow throughs that can lead to successful learning, and a betterment of self for our students.