A friend of mine, Peter Gilbert, is retiring from teaching this week. Despite his three plus decades in the profession, I would still consider him a Student Teacher.
What is a Student Teacher? In my mind it’s the teacher who understands that every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year, is about the students. They never lose that passion that inspired them to pursue their vocation. They never lose that sense of purpose. They never stop trying to build character, spirit, and confidence in their young disciples.
A Student Teacher does more than teach. They teach, they coach, they mentor, they befriend, they inspire, they console, they guide, they advise, they humour, they discipline, they parent, they counsel, they train, they listen, they protect, they comfort, and they love.
A Student Teacher has lifelong impact. They make an impact on thousands of young people at a critical stage in their lives. They equip them to deal with the future. They provide them with skills, both hard and soft, to pursue their dreams. They motivate them with actions, not just words, that boost their confidence.
A Student Teacher doesn’t just have the myriad of challenges presented by their hordes of students to overcome. A Student Teacher has administrators, school board policies, (some) ungrateful parents, and sometimes not so motivated fellow teachers to also overcome. In today’s educational climate it seems that the Student Teacher is under attack from all angles.
It’s no wonder that too many teachers retire early. Fed up with a system that seems to punish the motivated and rewards the system-zombies. It’s no wonder that everyday there are less educators willing to volunteer their team to coach sports, lead extracurriculars, mentor musicians, or organize arts excursions.
It’s too bad. Our country can’t afford to lose men like Peter. He coached more teams than I can list. He spent more time with the students than his own children at time. It’s a cliche to suggest those students were also his children. But cliche or not, it’s true.
Without him I would not have been able to spend the last fifteen glorious years as a volunteer football coach. He served not only in an official capacity as my staff sponsor, but in an unofficial capacity as my defender, promoter, and advisor. He recruited players for me. Lobbied teachers to let kids play. Cajoled kids to study. Lined the fields. Cleaned the change rooms. Ordered the buses. Raised money. Booked the refs. Wrapped the goalposts. And occasionally….called the ambulances.
A team is only as strong as its team members. Next year I have a great young quarterback who starred for the juniors a year ago, a tough running back recovering from injury, and some rangy linemen coming back. But one key all-star I will be missing is Peter.
Thanks for being my teacher Peter.
Signed,
Student
I’d like to think it’s because I’m getting older that I seem to tear up so often but the truth is that your story about Peter moved me. We all have those teachers who we remember fondly as having a significant impact on us as kids and, like you, I coached high school sports for many years as a community volunteer and always had great respect and admiration for those teacher sponsors who did all the behind the scenes dirty work to ensure that kids had the opportunity to play. Teachers like Peter deserve the gratitude of students, teachers and parents and we can only hope that his shining example motivates other teachers to emulate his commitment to being the best “student teacher” possible.
Your story was really inemaortivf, thanks!