SAYING GOODBYE TO SIR, WITH LOVE TEACHER TAUGHT, EARNED RESPECT.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
To Sir, with love. Not the 1967 movie. The real thing, since 1958. A drama that's been running for 44 years at Osceola Street School in Sylmar, where a young African-American teacher named Harvey Harvey, city (1990 pop. 29,771), Cook co., NE Ill., a suburb S of Chicago; inc. 1895. Its manufactures include steel castings, metal products, chemicals, machinery, and electronic equipment. Harvey has an oil research center. The city was founded by Turlington W. Thomas showed up on Sept. 15, 1958, the day the school opened, and stuck around to become an institution. Stuck around to be the teacher every kid and parent in this 95 percent Latino school wanted - the teacher known simply as ``Sir'' to the kids in his class. A natural teacher who would often shut the schoolbook in his hand, and teach a few of life's most important lessons - those that come from the heart. Teach the kids respect, discipline and commitment - especially to themselves. And now, at 73, he is retiring, and the only school he has ever taught at wants to say goodbye and thank you - to Sir, with love. ``Sir taught us so many things other teachers didn't, things like character-building and respect,'' said former student Jose Osorio, now 22. ``But he didn't just teach them, he lived them. We honestly didn't even think about him being an African-American. He was our respected fatherlike figure - always there for every one of us whenever we needed him. ``And he still is.'' Thomas was there when Osorio was a 12-year-old sixth-grader, and he was there for his former student when he recently graduated from the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission with a bachelor's degree in political science. He's there at weddings, funerals, birthdays, graduations - anywhere one of his students or former students wants him to be. ``That's what makes Mr. Thomas so special - his commitment to all the kids, and this aura of respect he commands,'' said parent Patricia Raygoza, who has had two children in Thomas' classes. ``He may be strict, but he has a way of infusing humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was in his strictness that the kids like and learn from. He is Osceola.'' Although Osorio has known Thomas for a decade, it was only a few years ago, when the school named its auditorium auditorium Portion of a theater or hall where an audience sits, as distinct from the stage. The auditorium originated in the theaters of ancient Greece, as a semicircular seating area cut into a hillside. after the teacher, that he learned his mentor's first name was Harvey. ``It was always 'Sir,' or 'Mr. Thomas, sir,''' he said. ``He's still the best teacher I ever had, and that includes college.'' They hear the same thing wherever they go, say Osceola Principal Alexandria Selna and teacher Theresa Derchan: ``Is Sir still teaching?'' ``How's he doing?'' ``Please say hello to him for me.'' ``He was the best teacher I ever had.'' ``When I wear my school T-shirt out shopping, I'm always being stopped by his former students asking me about him,'' said Derchan, who has taught at Osceola for 13 years, and is one of dozens of young teachers Thomas has mentored. ``It's so funny because it's almost like Sir is his real name. It's become a term of endearment en·dear·ment n. 1. The act of endearing. 2. An expression of affection, such as a caress. endearment Noun an affectionate word or phrase Noun 1. and respect for a man who has had such a major impact on the lives of so many people out there,'' she said. Principal Selna agrees. ``Mr. Thomas has taught the parents and even grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl of kids in his class today,'' she said. ``It's amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. the amount of former students who come back to the school looking to see him.'' There is a note on her desk from a student who graduated from Osceola in 1966. ``Tell Mr. Thomas, Lee called to say hello,'' it reads. ``Mr. Thomas, Sir, is an institution here,'' Selna said. The institution was walking the school grounds at lunch Wednesday, stopping to talk to dozens of kids as they ate. Until a few years ago, teachers used to have mandatory recess and lunch yard duty like this, but not anymore. Thomas, however, still does it every day. ``It shows the kids you're interested in them, and not only in the classroom,'' he said. ``You have to show them you care before they'll care.'' It goes back to the early '60s, this term of endearment generations of kids have passed on for more than 40 years at Osceola - calling him Sir. ``It started out as a humorous thing with a boy in one of my classes who had gotten into some trouble,'' Thomas said. ``He wasn't answering me yes or no, but instead only making grunting grunting a forced expiration against a closed glottis. It is characteristic of painful and labored breathing and of expiratory effort due to any cause, e.g. emphysema. grunting sounds. ``I told him you're a human being, not an animal. Talk like one. The boy looked up at me, smiled, and said 'OK, Mr. Thomas, sir.' ``Pretty soon everyone in school was calling me Sir, and I've had to live with it since, but I don't mind,'' he said, laughing. His Auntie Green would have cherished this moment - having his school say goodbye - to Sir, with love. She raised Thomas and his brothers after their mother died when he was only 2 - raised them in a strong Christian tradition Christian traditions are traditions of practice or belief associated with Christianity. The term has several connected meanings. In terms of belief, traditions are generally stories or history that are or were widely accepted without being part of Christian doctrine. , heavy on respect, discipline and character. It led him to begin teaching Sunday school Sunday school, institution for instruction in religion and morals, usually conducted in churches as part of the church organization but sometimes maintained by other religious or philanthropic bodies. In England during the 18th cent. at 14, got him back from the Korean War Korean War, conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of occupation. alive as a young man, and laid the groundwork for a long, successful career as a teacher who didn't just go by the book or go through the motions after so many years on the job. ``I wouldn't know how to do that, just show up for work,'' Thomas said. ``In 44 years of teaching, there's never been a morning I didn't look forward to walking into my classroom, and being with my kids. ``I tell the young teachers, you have to love what you're doing. Sure they'll be setbacks, but you have to maintain a positive outlook on life. ``I believe if a person doesn't have character, they're nothing. It's something I emphasize to all my students. If you don't have respect for yourself, no one else will.'' It works, Thomas says Thomas Say (June 27, 1787 – October 10, 1834) was an American naturalist, entomologist, malacologist and carcinologist. He was a taxonomist and is often considered to be the founder of descriptive entomology in the United States and one of the founding fathers of the . His former students stopping by the school or calling tell him that. ``They always reminisce rem·i·nisce intr.v. rem·i·nisced, rem·i·nisc·ing, rem·i·nisc·es To recollect and tell of past experiences or events. [Back-formation from reminiscence. about how strict I was, but fair. They appreciated the sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour , and respected the high standards I set, then made them measure up to. ``Those are the teachers everyone remembers,'' Thomas said. Yes, they are. Your school and your community wants to say goodbye and thank you - to Sir, with love. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Osceola Street School fourth- and fifth-graders crowd around retiring teacher Harvey Thomas, who will soon retire after 44 years. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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