Essay

Touch the Future

By John Gathright

Chatting around the campfire after the kids had gone to sleep, the parents were free to talk. At first they talked about the day's events, but soon the conversation turned to the end of the summer holidays, the start of school, and eventually the scarcity of good teachers. They swapped stories of incompetence, indifference, stupidity and irresponsibility. The general feeling was one of despair.

As I listened, my mind floated back to my own childhood and a Mr. Howard who was my Grade 3 teacher in Canada. Life was difficult for me at the time, living in the basement of my grandparents' home, with an unemployed new step-dad, my mom and two siblings. I was desperate to fit in at school. Classes were torture. My homeroom teacher was not sympathetic to the various upheavals in my life and he was unrelenting about making me feel stupid because I couldn't keep up

But Mr. Howard was different. He was a P.E. teacher and he didn't tolerate bullying or teasing or being mean. He was strict and fair and caring.

One day, Mr. Howard came to me and said, "Hey, we're having a swim meet and we need one more swimmer to make our team. Do you want to join?" I'd never taken swimming lessons before, let alone swum in a race, but I still jumped at the chance, and I was quick to exaggerate how good I was at swimming. The only problem was the meet was the next day.

On the day, I was the first to swim. "Do your best, John," said Mr. Howard. I closed my eyes and gave it my best. I swam as fast as I could and touched the other side. But when I opened my eyes, I was surprised to find I was no longer in my own lane. I had swum diagonally across two other lanes cutting off two other swimmers.

I thought Mr. Howard would be angry, but he smiled at me and said, "Wow, think how well you would have done if you'd swum straight." He saw my embarrassment, and he immediately called the rest of the team over for a huddle, and said, "John, thanks for the sacrifice swim. Our plan worked. All the other kids will be nervous to swim next to our team. Half of winning is mental attitude, you know! OK, boys, now we'll win for sure!"

I was disqualified by the judges but in the eyes of my teammates, I had qualified. Everyone else did very well and they attributed their success in part to me.

I'm reminded of this because it seems so easy to jump on the "teachers are bad" bandwagon and forget the wonderful teachers who have a positive influence on our children's lives. Teaching is not an easy profession. It's often underrated despite being so invaluable in society. And in the words of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who died tragically in the space shuttle Challenger disaster: "I touch the future. I teach." Let's thank the teachers who bring a positive touch to humankind's future.

Shukan ST: Aug. 31, 2007

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