A good Laugh at an October wedding

This story is not about being a teacher or principal. I am reminded of it as we begin October.

It was a nice October afternoon. Connie’s cousin’s (Denny) daughter was getting married and they decided to have the wedding outside at White Pines State Park near Oregon IL. Although I thought an outdoor wedding was pretty risky for rain, we dressed in our “good " clothes for the ceremony. So did everyone else. I had on my principal’s uniform, black blazer and dress pants. There were nice elegant outfits on everyone. One lady even sported a fluffy black dress with a large black hat. We all looked nice.

White Pines has beautiful grotto along a stream with a limestone cliff in the background.  There was a podium up front and two stands upfront that looked like lanterns, but they were covered in some type of cloth. It was cool evening and the folding chairs were arranged in two sections. We were on the “brides” side. I was sitting between Connie and her brother, Bruce. Bruce and I were both worried about rain, but decided we were close enough to our cars to get there quickly.

The ceremony began with music and we all turned to the back. There were the groomsmen and the groom. The groom was holding the leash of a black Labrador retriever The dog was wearing a small bow tie. I guess he was in his formal attire. The dog was excited and straining the lease. The groom handed the leash to the best man. Connie remarked that they must have wanted the dog there because he was “part of the family”. I elbowed Bruce and said “This is going to get good”.

The bridesmaids and the groomsman paraded to the front and the best man continued to hold on to the excited dog. They stepped to the side as a man came down the aisle and stepped to each “lantern” He raised the cover and inside each was a white pigeon (dove). The dove handler disappeared.

The dog went absolutely nuts when he saw the birds. The dog was straining so hard, the best man couldn’t hold him and remain up front. Struggling he took the dog to the front row and handed the leash to the groom’s father. Bruce and I were laughing so hard we had to cover our faces to keep from distracting the wedding.

The dog continued to try and get to the birds. He tried to leap towards them. The birds became excited as well and began the flap around inside their cages. The bride appeared and Denny walked his daughter down the aisle. The ceremony preceded as all do, but the animal show up front continued and Bruce and I continued to laugh.

Finally the vows ended and the happy couple were preparing to leave as the music played. The bird handler appeared on the groom’s family side of the chairs. He bent down and uncovered a cage of doves. As the couple turned  the handler opened the cage door and the flock of white doves flew up and over the groom’s side spectators. If you have ever scared up a flock of pigeons, you know they all do the same thing when taking flight. They lighten their load. The doves did that right over the well-dressed lady in the black hat.  Now she was dressed in black and white!The dog went totally berserk. Fortunately the birds rose quickly and he wasn’t in their path.

Bruce and I were laughing so hard with put our heads down so we couldn’t be seen. I don’t know that I have ever laughed so hard.

We were afraid that everyone in the wedding party and especially Denny would be upset about what happened. When we reached Denny in the reception line, Bruce and Connie tried to be understanding and sympathetic, while Bruce and I continued to snicker.  Fortunately Denny also thought it was very funny. We had a good laugh together.

A few years later Denny passed away. This past July, we lost Bruce. Both died too young and that is very sad.  But with the return of October, I can’t help but laugh as I remember the animal entertained wedding we all experienced in the outdoors at White Pines.

The Past Catches Up to Me

Over the past year I had the experience of reuniting with former students and colleagues from teaching. I also got to participate in a reunion of former Irving staff and students. All of the experiences had a profound affect.

We enter education as a career for a lot of reasons. We like kids, we have something we like to teach, but we all want to make a difference in the world. These reunions are a gift to former educators as we see the long term results of our labors. This is the pay-off.

Albany-Garden Plain Reunion

Early last summer, a former student, Curt, stopped by my home. He had gotten my address from my friend Gerry. Curt was making a delivery in Bloomington, and just stopped by. It was a complete and wonderful surprise. We talked about his days in Albany and what he was doing currently. I told him about the Facebook group I started, but he wasn’t on Facebook. Before he left he gave his business card with his email. I walked him out to his truck, and turned and said “Thank you”. He wanted me to know I had had an impact on his life. It is the greatest gift he could have given me.

There were two Albany reunions. The first planned last October by former colleague Austin Wallestad (PE), and with support from Gerry Kreuder (he literally taught everything except science), was to bring together former staff members. We had a decent turnout although I was the only one from outside of the area.

We talked, and ate , and shared some fond, and some not so fond, memories of teaching in the two schools. I really enjoyed seeing so many people who shared so much from my early years in education.

Although the lunch was nice, the best part was a visit to the Albany building. The school had been closed for a number of years due to lack of enrollment. This was quite sad as it had such an effect on the town. It had been sold and turned into a church.

Waiting in the school were a number of former students. This was impromptu as I had made the request for the teachers to visit the school through our Facebook group. The former students responded by showing up too. I had also emailed Curt to let him know about the staff visit. Now adults in their 50’s, they shared some memories. It wasn’t just seeing them, it was what their presence said to all of us. We impacted their lives. We taught, and disciplined, in the best way we could. They told us it benefited them. I heard “thank you” said to many of the teachers present. I still tear up when I think about it. Curt was one of the people there.

We wandered around the building. Much of it had been remodeled to suit the church. However, my old science room was nearly intact, as was the gym, where we had such wonderful basketball memories.

The result of the first impromptu reunion, was a planned reunion for this past August. This reunion was part of an Albany Fest and it was organized by former students Jim Holcomb and Jeff Holesinger who still live in the area.

Gerry and Linda Kreuder and  I attended and brought photos and other memorabilia for our years in Albany. Gerry even brought some paddles. Yes, we used a paddle for disciplinary action. Although I am not proud that I used physical punishment in my early career, I have to acknowledge, in that time and place it was effective. I know this because former students have told me so. Instead of resentment of the actions we took, these adults thanked us for dealing with problems swiftly and fairly. I don’t recall anyone being suspended from school in those days in the early 70’s. By the way, I never saw Gerry use any of his famous paddles. He sometimes threatened, but I don’t think he had the heart to use them.

The summer event was not well attended, but those who came shared stories and positive memories. We looked at photos together, and made new photos. Some of the former students brought their grandchildren with them. None of us look the same, and I had to ask names. It was a nice three hours along the banks of the Mississippi. Curt was one of the attendees along with another Kurt. Both had been students and basketball players on my teams. 

Unfortunately the small numbers for Albany fest were a reminder that closing the school was a very negative impact on the town.

Irving School Reunion

Before I started a Facebook page for Albany and Garden Plain , I joined a group for Irving School. This was the inspiration for the Albany-GP group. The Irving group was started by Mel “Duke” Babb to reconnect to students who had attended Irving School . His focus was on the building that existed when he lived in Bloomington. This group was highly successful and led to the sharing of many photos and memories. It also led to a reunion of students on Septmeber 7.This reunion was planned by Dave Sage. Dave, a former Irving student, is also a former city council member. He knows how to organize.

I came to the reunion at Dave’s request. He knew I had studied the history of the school. Dave wanted to reunite students who had attended the “old” Irving building. This building was one of three constructed on the same site. It was built in 1905 and demolished in 1975. It was a beautifully designed school by architect Arthur Pillsbury.

In 1945, Irving added a junior high program. It was one of three is Bloomington District 87. In 1949, a “junior high” addition was placed on the north end of the building. This part of the old building was remodeled, but remained when the “new” building was opened in 1975. It was the part of the school Duke Babb wanted to see when he and I visited the school.

The remodeled junior high wing is what those attending the reunion wanted to see. There were memories that reappeared as they walked into the learning center. They shared stories from the cafeteria and the gym. Although much changed by the remodeling in 1975, they could recall the configuration of the gym locker rooms and classrooms now gone or re-purposed. They would explain how they were terrified children walking down the hallway to visit the upstairs principal’s office.

To me the most lasting impact was encounter I saw in the learning center entrance. One former student, now herself a teacher, was moved to tears to see her former second grade teacher, Peggy Costigan (then Johnston). Like the both of them, I had tears in my eyes, as they hugged and shared memories.

Special thanks are due to the organizers of these events. Without Austin and Jim Albany would not have happened. Without Duke and Dave, Irving would not have happened. Their spouses also deserve a lot of thanks for all the contacts and refreshments and support they provided.  It takes a lot of time to organize these events when all the rest of us do is show up.

The shared memories are wonderful. The descriptions of a school through the eyes of children who are now adults, is fun to hear. Still, it is the emotion which I will carry from these events. Adults sharing that they knew we cared for them when they were children. Former teachers sharing how they felt they were as much a family as a faculty. People reliving those moments when they were bought together through the necessity of education and the benefit of a bond of caring. What a nice way to spend a couple of afternoons.

The Eye Behind the Camera

I have so many photos, I don’t want to count them. Suffice it to say they number in thousands. There are photos on my computer, on my zip drives, and in the cloud. These are often scans of basketball and science fair photos in bins in the basement. There are also many more is photos boxes stored in the basement.

The photos are of cherished memories. They are from Albany Grade School, Saybrook-Arrowsmith, and Irving Elementary School. In addition are photos from high school and college, from family vacations, and family get togethers in Collinsville, Bloomington and Geneseo. There are photos from weddings in many other locations. There are photos from Chicago, Santa Fe, New York and San Antonio.

Almost all of these photos have one thing in common. The person taking the photos is missing. The eye behind the camera, who carefully frames everyone else, is not herself in the frame. So today, I am showing the few in which we managed to get her on camera.

For the almost 55 years, since 1964, I have had her in my life. Connie has recorded memories for all of us. Today, is more than Mother's Day. Today as she reaches her 70^th birthday, I want to honor her. She has given nothing but love and care for all of us. She has made our lives better. She is Mom and Nana, and spouse. 

She is also one hell of a photographer. It was her photo skills that landed her first job as editor of the Erie Review. Today I want to thank her for all she has done for all of us and show just a few photos were she was in the frame. These are the very few shots of her individually. They begin in 1964 at age 15,  and are from her bookstore (first and last day), and the day she climbed alone to the top of Enchanted Rock in Texas (and she even took that one!). 

Thanks to you, Connie Lee Carter Laleman, for being part of our lives and for creating a record of the good times.

You Mean I Have to Decide if We Have a Snow Day????

Heck, everyone knows it is easy to decide if you should have school when it snows. Contrary to popular belief, superintendents do not wait to hear what the neighboring districts are doing before making a decision. Unfortunately they have be skewered for staying open when other districts have closed. 

What a superintendent should do is go to the local restaurant for early breakfast and ask the morning coffee group whether to have school or not.  They always know best. I am sure many a superintendent has been roasted by such experts.

Principals generally do not make the snow day decision. This falls to the person closest to the school board, and therefore the one most likely to be held accountable for the wrong decision. Although it is a big responsibility, there is absolutely no training in any superintendent preparation program for making a weather related decision. There is also no principal preparation for weather issues. The problem is only shifted to a principal when the superintendent is not available to make the decision.

This happened to me in my first year as principal. The superintendent liked to leave town on the week-ends. This was understandable as her family had remained in the suburbs, as she took her first superintendent’s job in scenic and very rural eastern McLean County. However, it tends to snow in central Illinois in the winter, and most of the eastern side of McLean County is wide open prairie with a constant northwest winter wind.

The first time it happened, the superintendent had visited Iowa over the week-end, and became stranded in the snow. Since I was the only other administrator who lived in the district, she called me on Sunday night and asked me to take charge. She told me the head custodian and bus driver, Wayne, would help me out.

Because the high school was in one town, and grades 2-6 were housed in another, the buses would run routes to pick up students for both schools. We would switch the students when a bus arrived at each school. High school students living closer to the grade school would be taken to the grade school; they would board the bus that had come from the high school with elementary students who lived closer to the high school. It all worked smoothly when the roads were clear.

So Wayne and I met at 4:00 am to check on the road and weather conditions. We drove to all of the places most likely to drift. The roads had a slight glaze of frost, but there was no snow. The forecast was for less than 2 inches of snow. This was nothing compared to the great snow blizzard of '79. (see last week's post). I decided to have school.

Then I learned something about central Illinois winter. 2 inches of snow is not a problem in central Illinois when it is on the ground. When that same snow is in the air and blowing across the prairie at over 20 miles an hour, it creates a total white out.

The drivers had picked up most of the students when the wind began to blow. The instantaneous white out meant they could not see past the end of the hood. The drivers had radios so we could hear what was happening.

One of the buses, the one carrying both elementary and high school students, slid into a ditch because the driver couldn’t see. This happened before he arrived at the elementary school. The bus arriving to the high school had elementary students from around town and had not yet left for elementary school.

What to do?

I decided all the buses should stay at the schools. As soon as the bus was pulled from the ditch, I told the driver to stay at the elementary school with the high school students. Fortunately he was also the high school  band teacher.

The bus with elementary students stayed at the high school. Asking high school teachers to take care of elementary students was a strange experience for them, but we made it work. I don’t know what the elementary teachers did with the high school kids, but they figured out something. We kept them in the band room.

We stayed in this unusual configuration for most of the morning. Just before 11:00 am, the wind died down and the white out ended. I told all the drivers to get the kids home. By 11:30, I heard all had been safely returned home.

As I think back to that day, I still experience the absolute terror that comes from making the wrong decision and putting lives in jeopardy. I am sure the morning coffee group let the school board members know the principal was an idiot. It was that day that I decided I never wanted to be in that position again. Two weeks later, I got a late night Sunday phone call from the superintendent stranded by snow in the suburbs.

WINTER in School

I see a lot of people complaining about the length and severity of this winter. The combination of cold and SNOW had made everyone I know wish for hot summer days. As my San Antonio Texas son says, “You don’t have to shovel the heat”

As a kid, I kind of enjoyed not having to go to school on “snow days”. Of course, living on a farm with a lane that drifted shut meant we weren’t staying inside when home. We had scoop shovels for loading grain, and they worked quite well for shoveling snow. At least that is what my parents thought as they sent my brothers and me to dig us out. Fortunately we lived almost at the end of the township, and we were the only place the snow plow could turn around. The same was true for the township to the north, so sometimes all we had to dig out was the piles left by the plows.

As an educator, winter became my curse, especially when it snowed. You do realize that SNOW is a four letter word, and we all know you are not supposed to use four letter words. As a principal, I repeated this often.

I had many bad experiences with snow. The most memorable was in the 1978-79 school term. I was teaching in Albany, and we received so much snow, it seemed the school was closed more often than open in January and February. It was during that year that the state of Illinois invented “Act of God” days. This happened because so many school districts ran out of snow days before the end of February. This meant school would have to stay into session well into the summer if there was no relief from the minimum required days of attendance.

My son, Scott, has a January birthday. His birthday that year was during the blizzard, and we couldn’t get out of town to buy him a present. Over the course of the winter, his grandparents were eventually able to come and see him, but on different weeks. His birthday was celebrated for about 3 weeks.

My wife, Connie, had been hired as a special education teacher aide in late November. Between the Christmas vacation and all of the snow I think she worked about one day a week for three months.

The snow was so bad, the drifts were higher than the intake vents for the heating system. The snow covered the vents, then as the heaters warmed the wall, water ran into the classroom for the melting snow.

The snow load on the roof was so bad, that the supporting rafters cracked over the classrooms down the hall from my room. When were able to have school, those classrooms were considered temporarily condemned and the students had to have language arts and math in rooms with better support. Fortunately for me, my science room only had the wet floor problem.

The kitchen on the other end of the building had a rack suspended from the ceiling. This held all of the pots and pans and large cooking utensils. The weight of the snow caused the rack to hang down until all of the suspended items were removed. The photos below were taken a full month after the biggest blizzard.

The only solution was to plow the snow off the roof. I remember our janitor, Casey, up on the roof with a snow blower clearing it enough so the rooms could be used. Hazel was constantly mopping up melting snow inside the building.

I did the same at my home, except instead of a snow blower I had to use my trusty scoop shovel with which I had so expertly learned how to handle as kid digging out our driveway.

In a way this year is like that year. Everyone felt the effect of too much winter. Unfortunately this was not the last time as an educator S**W would ruin my day.

Undefeated Season? What do you Think?

When I started teaching in 1969, I did not coach. However, I did support the basketball coaches and their teams. In 1969, those coaches were Gerry Kreuder at grades 5-6, and Denny Woods at grades 7-8.

Gerry and I had started teaching together that year and we became close friends. He and Denny needed someone to be the teams’ scorekeeper, so they asked me if I would do it. It paid a few dollars for each game, and I definitely needed the money. I didn’t know how to keep score, but I found enough information to help me do it.  Doing it and doing it well are two different things.

When one watches a basketball game, you tend to  focus on the ball and usually the activities of your team’s players. A scorekeeper has to keep track of both teams. It is also necessary for the scorekeeper to make sure that all points and fouls are recorded. In addition, the scorekeeper keeps track of the free throws attempted and missed. The scorekeeper determines when a team has committed more fouls than allowed in a half and indicates which team will receive a bonus free throw (known as a 1 and 1). The scorekeeper marks this designation using a “V” (Visitor)or “H” (Home) so the referees know which team is to receive a bonus. The scorekeeper also records the number of timeouts for each team.

Players must report to the scorekeeper before entering the game and report which player they are replacing. The player’s uniform number must be properly recorded in the score book, or a technical foul is assessed for each incorrect number in the score book. The coach also has to identify which 5 players will be starting the game. Initial recording of the numbers is the coach’s responsibility, and errors result in technical fouls against the coach’s team. If more timeouts are taken than allowed each is another technical foul on the team. Of course, coaches and players can get a technical foul for arguing with a referee. My buddy, Gerry, was pretty good at getting those.

When I was a coach, I got caught several times with technical fouls on uniform numbers. For some strange reason, our home numbers were always one number lower than our away uniforms. That is number 10 in the home jersey was number 11 in the away uniform. The reason for error was always a home game following an away game or vice versa. I would just copy the lineup from the prior game, and forget to change the numbers.

Each team kept their own score book, so there were two scorekeepers sitting at the scorer table. The home team score book was agreed to be the official book.We followed the same rules used at the high school level. The only difference was that there is an official trained scorekeeper in high school. That scorekeeper, like the officials and official timer, were hired by the home team. In high school, one official was  keeping score in addition to the timer who ran the scoreboard. In junior high, where cost was a factor, many of the scorekeepers are volunteers. 

Because junior high scorekeepers were not trained scorekeepers, there were often errors made in score-keeping. Add to that the games were often exciting, especially when there was a history of close games between two schools. To reduce errors, the scorekeepers usually communicated with each other to make sure scores are not missed, but when the books didn’t agree, the home team book ruled. The book, not the scoreboard, had the official score. The referees always verified the score with the scorekeeper before deciding when a game is over.

Today, much of the score-keeping is done electronically. It includes shot location, made and missed shots, rebounds, assists, turnovers, and which team gets possession on a held ball. We didn’t keep track of any of that, and we still had a difficult time keeping the score accurate.

Over time, I improved at score-keeping, and I made fewer errors. Early on, my error was failure to immediately record a made shot. I quickly found out, that I had to keep my pencil in the book and watch both teams closely.

Gerry’s teams his first two years were outstanding. He had a number of great athletes who would go on the play in high school. Many played on Fulton High School’s first state championship football team and one would be honored as  All State in football.

Gerry was also a great coach and pushed his players hard. The result of this combination were  undefeated teams for the 1969-70 and 1970-71 school years  Any coach will tell you and undefeated season is a rarity. In my years of coaching, I only had one.Gerry started with two of them.

There is a caveat to one of the undefeated teams and it involves the scorekeeper’s official book. The game was at Fulton Christian. FC was a small private school, that had some great teams, but they didn’t have a gym. In order to play basketball, the school had to rent a gym. The gym they rented for home games was at Fulton Junior High.

When we played Fulton Christian the first time, it was in our new home gym. (See my prior blog entitled Slip, Slidin' Away in the AGS Gym). This was probably the 1970-71 season.The game was exciting and close, but Gerry’s team won. The return game at Fulton Christian was near the end of the season and Gerry’s team had not lost a game.

The game was extremely close with the lead changing hands multiple times. Albany had a one point lead with seconds to go in the game, when an Albany player fouled FC’s best shooter. The FC player had a 1 and 1 free throw. He made the first one, tying the game. He made the next one as well giving FC a one point lead. Albany in bounded the ball, but did not score.

Except, the official scorer from Fulton Christian became so excited when the second free throw was made, he failed to mark it in the book. When the referees checked the official final score, it was tied. I didn’t know what had happened at the time, but did not argue with the official score.

Both teams were already in the locker room, when the referees reviewed the official score book. They decided the game was tied and should go into overtime. Albany was elated, but Fulton Christian was heartbroken. Albany easily won the overtime and the game.

To this day, I feel I should have argued for the correction. I am not proud that I did not.

Gerry would go on to coach basketball for many years. He had many great teams. Denny retired from coaching basketball. Gerry moved up to coach grade 7-8. I took over at grade 5-6 in 1973 and Nancy (Harvey) Countryman became our scorekeeper. Gerry’s teams were outstanding and his coaching earned him multiple junior high coach of the year honors for our district. It wasn’t long before  many of the starting players on Fulton High School basketball team had played for Gerry in Albany. I believe he never had a losing season, but were both of his first two teams undefeated?

A New Team, We Kill ABACUS and Get Very Busy

In the fall of 1993, the business manager and superintendent both decided to retire. The board of education reluctantly accepted these retirements. They also accepted the recommendation to promote one of the “Chiefs” to superintendent to manage the final effort to merge with the neighboring district, Unit 5. They assumed he would accomplish this merger within two years.

The new superintendent had plenty of district office experience, but he lacked expertise is school finance. He had also never been a building principal and had no experience at the elementary level. He asked me to join him as Assistant Superintendent and to manage all educational programs. This included educational technology, but not the administrative technology which still operated on the VAX mainframe computer. 

Fortunately his was able to lure Robert Meeker back to the district from Clinton. I was thrilled that more former boss and I would be assistant superintendents in the new administration. Robert brought all of his excellent management skills, plus new knowledge in administrative software and specialty areas like insurance.

The former “Chief of Instruction” was to become “Director of Instruction” and she was assigned to report to me. The new superintendent’s plan was to move her out within a year. Her days of pushing ABACUS were numbered.

Part of the merger plan was based on a poor financial outlook for our district. This outlook existed in forecasts based on assumptions that we would increase spending, especially on the new computer software, and decrease revenue. The assumptions did not take into account that current fund balances were healthy and that we did not have to buy more of the ABACUS software license or computers to run it.

The first financial decision I recall was to cancel the lease on ABACUS software and cancel any major computer purchases. This decision allowed us time to avoid deficit spending while we focused on getting a merger vote on the ballot.

Robert began to develop five year plans for all aspects of the administration. These involved building maintenance and improvement, administrative technology including financial, payroll, and personnel, insurance, etc.

I began a five year plan for curriculum development and purchases, including revising the BEST tests, consolidating all grant funds to coordinate staff and equipment purchases, enrollment and staffing projections, and integration of educational technology using the learning center teachers in a leadership role. I also had to handle contract negotiations with the new program assistant union.

The superintendent made an arrangement to “lend” our newly demoted Director of Curriculum to a nearby university at the start of the second semester. This helped clear the way for the changes, but left me short handled to do all of the work. I decided to borrow help from two other administrators (community relations and special education) and we developed and implemented a plan to fix the tests and revise curriculum and text books.

While plans were developed and finances were brought under control, we were required to spend a great deal of time getting the merger vote on the ballot. This was not easy as Unit 5 decided to fight the placement on the ballot. This fight led to a hearing in which we had to present the case for merger, but that hearing took two years to happen. Fortunately by then our planning helped as we had a good idea of future enrollments, building space and financing.

Still the stalling tactics kept us preparing to answer immeasurable questions about the district. One of the tactics from Unit 5 was to push for “coordinating” every major aspect of the two districts, thus implying we could work together without merging. Our board still wanted the vote, but forced us into innumerable joint district meetings before we made any decisions. This doubled our work, and resulted in very little coordinated efforts, as Unit 5 would always do what they had planned to do anyway.

All of this work slowed technology implementation, but there was help on the way. The federal government was pushing for implementation of computer technology in all schools. Part of the push was to bring the internet to all levels and every school in the nation. This plan was to bring networks and wiring and internet connections everywhere. To fund this effort, was a new tax called “e-rate” which was attached to every phone and cable bill. To obtain e-rate funds, the district had to develop a comprehensive plan to bring computers on line in the classroom.

Someone had to write the plan. That someone was me.

We Expand Access and Give it Our BEST

I continued to write grants and try to add machines to my school. My first goal was to bring the TLC program into fourth grade. This required some planning and careful persuasion as no other school was implementing its own network. I did lots of lobbying to get the needed hardware and wiring installed.

I was relentless and was able to bring the program into daily use in the classrooms. A number of things had already changed in grade three and fourth was seeing the same. Gone were chalkboards, as microcomputers don’t do well around chalk dust. In addition to computers and wiring, there was a need for tables and chairs to accommodate the machines and they had to be located together to minimize cost. The teachers accepted these changes, although I am sure there was some reluctance.

The district had a new initiative that was to fail miserably. The superintendent wanted us to move to writing and testing district standard objectives. The objectives and tests were to be written by the teachers who were deemed to be the best source of what was important to learn and test. The problem was that teachers were not trained to be designers of reliable tests. The tests were to be called “Bloomington Educational Standard Tests or BEST”

Teachers were given training in writing standards and put to work developing the BEST for each subject at each grade level. Even with expensive consulting help, the tests were far from the best. They reflected the beliefs of the writers, which may not reflect what was considered as a standard. The tests were unreliable indicators of learning. However we were required to give them annually.

To more fully implement this disaster, the director of curriculum, now called the “Chief of Instruction” was tasked with locating and implementing computer software that was to report out the test results. Each principal was required to access this data and use it to formulate plans for improvement.

The software was called “ABACUS” (thanks Don Melican, Sheridan principal, for remembering)and it was terrible. We all did get computers, and we all were given access to district email. This was the only good part of the program. It consisted of a large amounts of commands to locate the data from the BEST. No one could use it without multiple calls for help. I was probably the most knowledgeable of computer software of all of the principals, and I couldn’t use it. We were not allowed the data unless we accessed it ourselves, but were required to report on it. Still our “Chief” would go out and make presentations claiming we had full implementation of the software in our district. It was a complete lie.

Fortunately, the superintendent decided to retire. There were incentives passed by the state of Illinois to encourage teachers to retire when they reached a certain age and years of experience. These incentives applied to administrators. The superintendent’s decision came as the board of education was pursuing a merger with Unit 5. He was convinced that it would happen in a few years. We all hoped the incoming superintendent would fire the Chief or at least kill ABACUS. It turns out, I got to help with both.

Robert Takes on More and Catches some Thieves

After I left the Bloomington Area Vocational Center (AVC), Robert Meeker continued on his mission to make microcomputers the basis for business education at AVC.  He knew that Bloomington High School (BHS) was the most essential high school to success at AVC . For that to work he had to eliminate the animosity which long existed between the faculty and administration of Bloomington High School and the faculty of the Area Vocational Center.

He worked diligently on this while I was with him. Every effort was made to make sure the BHS administration knew that we were not a competitor to BHS, but we were a colleague and collaborator.

Although he was managing the massive Adult Education program (7000 students), the AVC, and the Regional Vocational System ( 3 AVC's and 20+ high schools), he volunteered to become an assistant principal for BHS and lead person in the business department. With this assignment, he could directly affect the relationship between the faculty members. He also encouraged AVC staff to take on roles with extracurricular activities at BHS. With the role as assistant principal came athletic game supervision at BHS. Where he found the time I will never know.

Robert’s leadership in the business department was transforming. A faculty determined to teach proper typing and shorthand skills was convinced to teach the skills needed in computer keyboarding. Instruction with software replaced drills and timed tests. Ability to solve problems was developed as  practicing technique was de-emphasized.

The typing labs became computer labs. The business classes moved from bookkeeping to spreadsheet management. Semi-skilled work in typing information became skilled work in using databases, word processing and other software.

While all of this was going on the, the new AVC course in Robotics which began with one of the grants we wrote, was growing rapidly. There was a new drafting lab using auto-CAD. In addition, there was an increasing demand for skills in network development and wiring, so a new course was developed. He expanded to the arts and supported a new Mac lab in the art program. Robert initiated or directly supported all of these into courses at both AVC and BHS.

With all of this technology came some negative consequences. BHS became a target of thieves. Robert related below several stories of theses adventures.

            The year we got the graphic arts classroom up to date with 16 new Mac’s someone broke in and stole them.  The insurance paid for replacements, but they did not come with the original software and we had to fight with Apple to get them to give it to us.    Lots of fun, lots of headaches, retirements, and very different programs and applications based on the kind of classroom that needed the technology.  It was certainly a fun ride, even with the frustrations. 

Another time the thieves broke into BHS/AVC.  They had a semi pulled up behind the auto shop with plans to clean out several labs.  But by then we had a pretty good alarm system.  It didn’t make any noise it just notified the police.  They showed up in force pretty quickly and caught the bad guys in the act.  

Another time they (the police)showed up and felt pretty sure something wasn’t right.  So they turned loose a couple German Shepherds.  After getting some school administration and maintenance people there to turn on the lights etc.the police went in and got the bad guys.  One was in a broom closet keeping the door between himself and the dog.  The other guy was on the roof after crawling out the upper story window and hiding behind a vent unit.  Unfortunately for him, the dog kept him on point until the officers came to corral him. 

While all of this activity was going on, I was serving as principal at Irving. I missed most of it, except for an occasional lunch with Robert. His personal efforts were extremely successful. However, it did not fulfill his long term goal of a central office position as business manager. So seven years after I left AVC for Irving School, Robert left District 87 for the position of Business Manager for Clinton Public Schools. He had a tremendous impact for his time in Bloomington. Fortunately for all of us, he wasn’t quite finished.

Eulogy for Mom

Thanks for being here to honor our Mom. She would be surprised to see that so many have come. I think she felt she was a common woman except she was actually and uncommon person.

I am Rick, 2^nd oldest…or when she would get angry or disappointed at something I said, I would become Richard Leo Laleman. Of course I often heard her say Ronald Lee or Stephen Roy when she needed to correct some of their behavior. I wondered why she never gave Tim or Jeff middle names. Maybe she had expectations that they would be easier to raise than her first three boys. Boy was she wrong if she thought that.

I also never heard Mom use my sister’s names in that way, but I was already out of the house when they got old enough to warrant a chewing out, or maybe they were so good that never happened. I am sure that was it!

Elizabeth Ann McKenna Laleman Vroman. That is a lot of names for one person. I never heard anyone call her Elizabeth, only Mom, or Betty, Grandma Betty , or Grandma B. She was the 11^th child of a family with 16.

My Mom’s multiple names really represent many of the phases in her life. Betty McKenna was a learner. Born into a family of 16 children she was to develop a connection between her brothers and sisters that would endure until the day each left this earth. They were extremely close and obviously loved each other. When I hear of other families torn apart by misunderstanding, jealousy or anger, I am amazed that the McKennas stayed so close.

 Growing up as a McKenna, she learned that happiness is not in things, but is in family. People were important, and sharing when you had little was part of life. She learned a deep Catholic faith, but not a preachy faith. She learned her beautiful Palmer method of writing. She learned she had a role and it was as a worker. This family would grow to almost 400 direct descendants and with spouses and step children to almost 600.

With such a large family, each had to take on some burden. Her sisters cared for the younger ones and helped prepare the meals, do the laundry, and clean. Her brothers worked in the fields. By the time Mom came along, all the jobs were taken. She told me her weekly job was to cover the shelves with newspaper. When she and Dad married, this was about all she knew how to do. Of course she knew much more than that.

She also said at meals, it you sat near her mother, you ate tomatoes with sugar on them. If you sat near her Dad, you ate them with salt. We ate them with salt, so I kinda know where Mom sat.

We got to experience the annual Father’s Day picnic which my Mom would host for the entire McKenna family. The family was spread over many miles, but they all came to our farm. That was an exciting time for us because we had so many cousins with which to play.  We easily had enough to have 2 teams to play softball and other games. This day was to honor Mom’s Dad, Grandpa Roy and Mom always made it special for everyone, and they all came.

I often saw the affection Mom had for her siblings, but she and Jean had a special bond. Although they sometimes disagreed, the affection they had for each other, kept our families close. We stayed overnight often because one or the other was always having a baby. There were a lot of those times! Jean and Cleon became my second parents. As I saw each of the McKennas experienced failing physical health, they would gather together often.  I heard them say it to Mom on many occasions. “I love you, Betty”.

When Mom married my Dad, she was not yet 20 years old. Betty Laleman she became a “teacher” and a “connector”. Dad’s family was also large, but not close to the size of the McKennas. When she became Betty Laleman she encountered a very different culture. They were all Belgian and my grandparents had immigrated to the US when they were young adults. They didn’t speak English in the home. I am sure they were boisterous and argumentative. This is a Laleman trait. This was so different from her close affectionate family. Still she made it work.

Mom and Aunt Rachel became quite close. My Aunt Gabriel became my godmother. She kept our family engaged with my Dad’s. She knew how to reach out to build relationships. This had to be difficult. My Mom was often self-conscious. She didn’t want to be the focus of attention or set expectations for others than her children.

She accepted everyone. There was no separation of people by their color, or background, or wealth or their religion. In a small town where everyone was of the same race, she would not tolerate racial slurs by her children. She was strong in her beliefs, but she didn’t think you were wrong in yours. She showed me that everyone, regardless of their station in life, deserves to be treated with respect. It is an example that has guided me my entire adult life.

She did make sure we had plenty of religion in our lives. We never missed Sunday mass. We hit every holy day. We said the rosary every night in Lent, in Advent and sometimes even in the car. Steve shared his memory of reciting the rosary while we traveled to Eyrich’s or Chamberlains, and that we were not allowed to skip any of the mysteries. As he said, you can’t say the rosary and fight in the car at the same time.

Mom was also good at discipline when we needed it. She kept a yard stick on the transom over the door in the dining room, and she “not afraid to use it”. When we got tall enough to reach it, we would hide it from her.

She taught us our obligations. I heard her say many times, “you boys need to…” when speaking of chores, or homework, or changing our clothes, or cleaning our room. She worked hard and expected us to do the same. She knew she was raising us for a later life.

I often saw the affection my parents had for each other. Although they had economic struggles and pain, they loved each other deeply.

While she was a teacher to us, she was a “giver” to others. Some of you read my blog, in which I described my Mom as an angel. She was the very definition of one who guards over others. She always available, always watching out for others and taking care of her kids. We were guided, but not protected. She wanted us to be responsible adults, who knew how to take care of ourselves.

For others, she was an angel in time of great need. She had this tremendous empathy, the ability to understand how others felt. With a large family as with any large group of people, there comes a great deal of tragedy and suffering. Most of us, including myself, say similar things when someone suffers a loss or tragedy. “You are in our thoughts and prayers” “Let me know if you need anything” which are all expressions of our caring for others.

Mom may have done said that too, but mostly she would just go. She seemed to understand that those in the greatest need needed caring people to help lift their burden. She would arrive, express her concern, and begin to help. She would listen, clean, pray, listen some more, cook, offer counsel and hope. She understood that people in extreme duress don’t want to burden others and ask for help. She understood that that didn’t know what to say or do. She understood that they needed her and her complete faith that God would help them.

I saw her do this so many times, and I know there were many that I never witnessed. When Connie’s Dad died, she regularly spent time with Connie’s Mom. She would call or drop by just to talk.  When she couldn’t visit someone, she would call or write. A call from Betty was a comfort for many.

Mom would give her time to those people who needed contact. She would often visit people in nursing homes, just so they would not be alone. Sometimes, she was the only one.

Mom’s letters were beautiful in their appearance for her hand writing was almost artistic. Her letters came at just the right time. Her messages were full of caring and hope. Except for the letters Ron and I received telling us to grow up and change our behavior, they carried a compassion and a recognition of the suffering of others. Still both of us know her letters were exactly what we needed. Her role of a teacher was important to her and to us.

If you suffered a loss, you heard from my Mom. Her letters provided comfort to all. I don’t know if any of those letters survived, but I know they sincerely written, and that they came when they were most needed.

It was one of her letters to Al after Gladys died, that brought Al completely into her life. She and my Dad had known Al for a long time. As a successful restaurant owner, Al was pretty famous. My parents, who rarely went out to eat, would go to the Rustic fairly often.

Dad and Al had grown up as neighbors. Although both moved often, in 1930 they lived on adjoining farms. The 1930 census shows 10 year old Alvin living at the next farm were 8 year old Freddy Laleman lived.

When Dad died, Mom faced a great burden. She had 4 kids still at home with Mary Beth’s wedding in two months. Mom had no income. She prayed and found a job with the help of Dad’s sister my aunt Rachel. She survived, but she knew great loss. I believe it was this understanding that led her to write to Al in his time a need.

After we were out of the house, she stayed connected. When I was away in college, she would call often. She always called at 6:00 am, because she knew I would “be home”. She continued this my entire adult life. When it was my birthday and the phone rang, I knew it was my Mom. I had to rush to answer to keep from waking everyone in the house.

When Betty McKenna Laleman became Betty Vroman, Al brought much love and opportunity, and stability to her life. He also brought a whole family who wanted to protect their Dad when he was so vulnerable. Mom reached out to each of them. With Tom and Jim still living at home, she blended her 3 remaining children, Tim, Jeff, and Marcia. She an Al built a home for this party of 5 and Mom let them all know that she would care for them. This had to be difficult as they were all teenagers living under one roof. I struggled living with my two when they were teenagers. I cannot imagine how she made this new family work, but she did.

As time passed, Al’s family experienced more tragedy as traffic accidents took Dawn and later Gregg. Mom would be the comfort for the family as she went to be with each of them in this time of great need. Mom’s faith helped her help others, but she didn’t just pray. She spent time with them, called them, kept in touch.

Mom and Al spent the next 42 years together. They built a winter home in Florida and had a tremendous number of visitors. They built their house so they could share it with others. Mom kept a calendar like a hotel would do to know when her rooms were “booked”. They made everyone feel welcome. My Mom, always concerned for others, was the hostess for us all. They became close with their neighbors. Mom and Al could reach out to anyone to make them feel welcome.

The grandkids grew in number . Each year they would add handprints to a quilt for her. Eventually they numbers 19. You can see the joy she found in family. The grandkids annually gave Grandma B. a quilt with all of their handprints. As I watched the photos scroll by the past few days, one consistent thing is obvious. She took tremendous joy in the presence of the little ones. Her smile is so genuine as she sat with a grandchild, or held a great grand baby.

As Mom and Al’s health began to decline, the Florida home was no longer practical. They had to give it up, but they still stayed connected to many people. Mom gave up driving and gave up visiting others in need, unless she could get one of my siblings to take her.  Still she continued to call when she knew someone needed a kind word and she would continue to write until she lost that ability.

In these final years, Mom’s short term memory was failing. I can still her beautiful blue eyes and she struggled to remember what had been said. Still, a question from her past would result in a detailed description of what she had seen and felt as a child. She knew more about the Chicago Cubs of the 1930’s than most fans would ever recall. In her youth, her joy was in the smallest of things. Talking with her about those times was very enjoyable.

My mom was a worrier. She worried about her husbands, her kids, her siblings, her in-laws, friends, and people she barely knew. She would pray for them. Her focus was always outside of her. She would worry that they had enough to eat. In her failing health, she would worry that Mary Beth and Marcia would not be suffering. She wanted to ease their pain, when she had so much of her own. She would worry that Jeff was driving too late after he saw her, or that Tim or Steve were missing too much work to spend time with her. She would worry that Ron would be ok after Bonnie had died. I would hope she didn’t worry about me, but I am sure she did.

In her final few months, she had to completely rely on others for her physical needs. Yet she was able to let those assisting her that she cared for them and did not want them to worry. Her empathy for her caregivers, led them to stop and see her every day, even when it wasn’t part of their schedule. Mom lingered on physically, but she was ready to join God. Her heart remained strong. Mary Beth told me the caregivers said it was hard to stop a “heart of gold”.

In her final days, Mom could barely speak. Yet when I called the last time, she clearly said “Hi Rick” and “I love you” words I will always remember. Although her voice was weak, my sisters told me that if you listened carefully to barely audible mumble, you could hear the words of the “Hail Mary” as she prayed to God to bring her to Him. Her faith was unshakable.

 I believe many benefited from knowing my Mom. Certainly having her as my mother was the greatest gift I could ever receive. She taught me so much by her words, but her example spoke so much more. The McKennas, Laleman’s, and Vromans and many others felt her love, her empathy, and her faith in God. She would want you all to know that she is in a better place and to not mourn her going. She would not want you to worry about her, as she had worried about so many of us. She would want you to know that things will be better and I know they will because

She made the world a better place.