Education is a funny thing.
When you're going through school you can't wait to be DONE and be out in the "real world". Sometimes while in the real world you find yourself sometimes wishing "Can I just go back to school?"
Along the way you meet teachers. Those teachers will impact you in ways you won't realize, or even appreciate until much later in life. The knowledge they shared, the attention that they gave, and the wisdom that they brought into their classroom stays with you for the rest of your days.
If you work in education you hope that you're that kind of teacher, and you do your best to be that kind of teacher against all odds, day in and day out. In my experience, if you're a teacher of any type, there's a high likelihood that you were inspired by a teacher and that led to the choice of your given profession, at least I know was.
The next time you run into a good friend or former classmate, ask them if they have/had a favorite teacher. If (more likely "when") they say yes, ask them "Why?" and listen to them. I guarantee you'll hear about a teacher who was passionate, engaging, creative, entertaining, or numerous other qualities. Some will tell you tales of teachers that reached out to them or saw something in them, others will speak of inspiration and understanding. The story will vary from individual to individual, but if you listen long enough, you'll start to hear the similarities. So I'm going to encourage you to do this, and fair is fair, so I'll start:
For me it was Dennis Hermreck, plain and simple.
Mr. Hermreck, Coach Hermreck, or simply "Coach", he answered to all of them. He was the type of teacher you want your kids to have. He was engaging, inspiring, and above all caring. Before taking History with Coach, I had the pleasure of working for him on the Onaga High football team. I never played, but I was an equipment manager, after that he was my coach for basketball for 3 years. He was the kind of coach that saw the best in his players, and did all that he could to bring that out in them. He led by example, and if there was something he wanted you to learn, he'd jump right in and show you, from the basics, to a complex offense, or ball mechanics, he was there. He was encouraging, but at the same time if you were out of line, or messed up he'd let you know. And his passion carried through and you knew that you had messed up, but at the same time you wanted to do better.
I think it was around my sophomore year I finally got to take History from him and it was fantastic. To this day I credit my love of WWII history (and history in general) to his class. His lectures were dynamic, inspiring, and he was a masterful storyteller. Unfortunately I never got to take another class from him due to scheduling conflicts. However, I had Spanish right next door to his room, so when he lectured I essentially got to hear his lecture twice. He was that good, that loud, and that engaging.
In the years since high school, whenever I would visit Onaga and I would run into him, I always called him Coach, or Mr. Hermreck. I remember one time he chided me about it saying that since I had graduated it was no longer required, but for me it was always a sign of respect and admiration. Outside of school, he was always involved in the community. You'd always see him out and about, either working at the swimming pool, the ball fields, or opening up the gym and weight room for student athletes during the summer. During the county fair you could count on him to be the commentary for the softball tournament as well, and he was always entertaining.
While this was always a blog post I meant to write, I felt it was important, especially today. Unfortunately Coach Hermreck passed away this past weekend after losing his battle with cancer. His passing will leave a void in the communities and hearts of family, friends, co-workers, loved ones, and students alike that were fortunate enough to have known him, or take one of his classes. The outpouring of love and tributes on social media has been astounding, and when you speak to someone about what he as a teacher, as a person, meant to them, all that anyone hears in their voices is the love they had for "Coach".
