A HEALTHY DOSE OF SURVIVAL SKILLS MIXED IN WITH MATH AND SCIENCE LESSONS; SOME TEACHERS YOU JUST NEVER FORGET.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
You always remember the special ones. The teachers who peel back the layers of indifference and apathy apathy /ap·a·thy/ (ap´ah-the) lack of feeling or emotion; indifference.apathet´ic ap·a·thy n. Lack of interest, concern, or emotion; indifference. that glaze over glaze over Verb to become dull through boredom or inattention: the listener's eyes glaze over Verb 1. young minds wanting to be anywhere but where they are - in a classroom. The teachers who find a way to tattoo tattoo, the marking of the skin with punctures into which pigment is rubbed. The word originates from the Tahitian tattau [to mark]. The term is sometimes extended to scarification, which consists of skin incisions into which irritants may be rubbed to produce some lasting knowledge on the brain, and wind up forever being etched etch v. etched, etch·ing, etch·es v.tr. 1. a. To cut into the surface of (glass, for example) by the action of acid. b. in their students' memories as someone who made a difference in their lives. Teachers like Ron Hage, who gets a wedding invitation in the mail from a kid he had in the third grade more than 20 years ago at Darby Elementary School elementary school: see school. in Northridge. ``He tracked my husband down last month,'' said Ron's wife, Dorothy. ``He was getting married and wanted Ron to be at his wedding.'' Either the groom has a very short list of friends and acquaintances to invite, or his old third-grade teacher made quite an impression on him to be invited to his wedding more than 20 years later. Dorothy Hage doesn't have the least doubt in her mind which one it is. She's seen this scene repeated in various ways over and over again for the past 34 years - ever since her husband began unleashing his student army on the Valley. ``Hage's Heroes,'' they're called. There are literally thousands of them out there with a rich love for math and science, Ron's specialty. ``One night early in his teaching career, Ron was trying to figure out a way to reach some of the students in his class he was having problems motivating,'' Dorothy said Monday, as her husband taught his classes at Nobel Middle School in Northridge - preparing to wind down his career and retire next month. ``His favorite show came on TV, `Hogan's Heroes Hogan’s Heroes incarcerated in Stalag 13, unlikeliest of POW camps. [TV: Terrace, I, 357–358] See : Imprisonment ,' and it was like a light bulb bulb, thickened, fleshy plant bud, usually formed under the surface of the soil, which carries the plant over from one blooming season to another. It may have many fleshy layers (as in the onion and hyacinth) or thin dry scales (as in some lilies)—both of which went off,'' she said. ``The next day, he walked into class and started Hage's Heroes.'' The idea was simple, like most good ones are. You can be the leader, the teacher, but that doesn't mean you also can't be one of the guys, the group, like Col. Hogan hogan Dwelling of the Navajo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. The hogan is roughly circular and constructed usually of logs, which are stepped in gradually to create a domed roof. was to his men. All for one and one for all. Join Hage's Heroes and be special, be proud. And while we're at it, we'll all learn something, too. Survival skills, he called them. In return, Ron Hage would be in your corner, keeping the door to his office open at lunch time and after school to any student in his army who needed some extra help with those survival skills, or just wanted to shoot the breeze about life and being a kid. It meant knowing more about each of your students than just the name on the seating chart and the grades they were getting on tests. It meant knowing some of them came from such poor surroundings that they slept on the hard floor at night. It meant getting them mattresses. It meant knowing that the kid squinting squint v. squint·ed, squint·ing, squints v.intr. 1. To look with the eyes partly closed, as in bright sunlight. 2. a. To look or glance sideways. b. in the second row was too proud to tell you his grades were slipping because he couldn't see the blackboard (1) See Blackboard Learning System. (2) The traditional classroom presentation board that is written on with chalk and erased with a felt pad. Although originally black, "white" boards and colored chalks are also used. , that he needed glasses his parents couldn't afford. Being in Hage's Heroes meant you got them. Hage would make sure of it - take care of his troops, just like Hogan always did. It meant sending out thousands of kids into society who had no fear of math or science - kids who learned and mastered it. Even liked it. It meant getting letters and postcards from many of them years later, thanking you - telling you that you were one of the special ones they'll always remember. It meant getting a wedding invitation from a former third-grader. And now, the years have dwindled down to a few more weeks in a career that has spanned 34 years of teaching science and math in elementary and junior high schools in the Valley. And the wife who has spent every one of those years by her husband's side wants to let Hage's Heroes from all the classes past know that their old leader is retiring. He won't be teaching survival skills in a classroom anymore, but he'll still be around, mentoring new teachers coming into the school district. Teaching teachers how to become one of the special ones kids never forget. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Ron Hage Looking out for his troops |
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