;)
May 22nd, 2015
Thanks to Facebook, I have been flooded with memories of high school this week and thoughts of how those who devote themselves to educating teenagers impact the lives of so many in ways that will never be fully realized and appreciated. First, there was the post about Virginia Ryan, the “cookie lady” who spent 28 years of her life waking up before dawn to bake cookies and prepare meals for the students of Wheeling Central Catholic High School. If you have ever had one of Mrs. Ryan’s cookies, you know there is nothing that can compare. But she did more than bake cookies for teenagers. She took an interest in their lives and would go out of her way to lend an ear or say a kind word to anyone she thought needed a little extra love at that moment. But it was a post that I saw early Thursday morning, May 21, that made me realize it was time to say thank you to the teachers and staff at Wheeling Central Catholic High School, particularly those who were there in the late 1980s-early 1990s (yes I am dating myself) for the positive impact you have had on so many lives.
In the wee morning hours of May 21, 2015, Greg Schultz announced via Facebook to his former students that he was starting his last week of teaching at Wheeling Central before retirement. By 8 a.m., there were hundreds of “likes” and well wishes from his former students and colleagues, including me, and I began thinking about the impact that man had on so many. Mr. Schultz has been a fixture at Wheeling Central for as long as I can remember. His gravelly voice is unmistakable. He did more than teach in the classroom. He developed young people. I will never forget when he took a group of us during our senior year to a Shakespearean festival in Canada. While I remember nothing about the plays we saw, our ride in a Volkswagen bus/van (whatever that thing was) and the antics at the house which hosted us are forever etched in my mind. So thank you Mr. Schultz for everything you did then and for continuing to stay connected with and involved in your former students’ lives in this social media world.
Mr. Schultz is one of many forever etched in my mind and there is no way to succinctly recount the many memories and adequately thank them all. Like Mr. Schultz, the teachers at Wheeling Central have made many personal sacrifices to devote their lives to developing teenagers into well-rounded and productive adults. When I was there, we students thought many of the rules were stupid. Detention was doled out for such minor infractions as going up or down the steps the wrong way or being caught at your locker during class time. Mr. Duffy, the Dean of Discipline, seemed to have eyes everywhere. Seriously, I think that man could identify you by your ankles if you were taking a short cut and going the wrong way on the steps. You would hear his voice say, “(Insert name) we will see you in detention,” before ever seeing where he was. Mr. Duffy was not the only rule enforcer, just the most prominent. What many of us now know is that these “silly” rules and their strict enforcement weren’t simply ways for the teachers to annoy us. They were meant to teach us discipline and that every decision in life, however minor, has a consequence. They taught us taking short-cuts in life rarely pays off. They taught us to be prepared and think about the consequences of an action before acting. They taught us to show consideration and respect for others even when you may not particularly care for a person. If you show respect, you will be respected.
So to “Mr. Schultz,” thank you for taking me down memory lane and best wishes on your well-deserved retirement. And to Earl “Mickey” Duffy, Joseph “Doc” Viglietta, Alice Harkins, Steve Turkley, Sally Beatty, Debra Toland, Terry Williamson, Cathy Bishop, Lynn Papagan, Stan Kaniecki, Frank Przybysz, Terry Edwards, Floyd Deaton, Sister Mary Florence, and all the others I know that I am forgetting, thank you for the impact you have had on my life. Lou Volpe, even though you abandoned my class during our senior year to take a well-deserved break, I can’t forget you. You are a Wheeling Central legend. All of you are fixtures in my life that will never be forgotten. You gave me the tools to get where I am today. My thoughts of following in your footsteps were replaced by the realization that I would not be able to repay my very large student loan debt and support myself on a Catholic school teacher’s salary. So thank you also for the financial sacrifices you made to devote your lives to your students. I am aware of very few other schools where former students and teachers continue to stay so connected and involved in each other’s lives long after graduation. While I sometimes think of giving up the legal profession to return to my original thoughts teaching, there is only one place where I would ever consider going. You set the bar high and made sure your students surpassed it. I hope each of you receive satisfaction knowing the positive impact you have had on so many lives. Best wishes to Greg Schultz on his retirement and to all of my former Wheeling Central teachers, wherever you may be today.
