LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL WAS A LABOR OF LOVE
One of my most savoring experiences was being a volunteer in education instructor at Lincoln High School KCMO, 1977-1978, when I was employed by the U.S, Dept. of Labor.
As a new Missouri lawyer, I had applied to teach at Lincoln, in a joint program with the KC Bar and the school district, when Dr. Charles Wheeler was Superintendent. Mrs. Katherine Smith was the teacher to whose room I was assigned. The students were bright, eager, attentive and disciplined. While we were supposed to talk about juvenile delinquency, I knew better then to bring that mess into my context. it was not me!
So, me being me, I brought in black history, spirituality, and upward mobility to these all-black students. Consequently, I brought in stock brokers, commodities dealers, real estate brokers, insurance agents, physicians. and others, after explaining to the class how these people interacted with their lives, and showing them, how they, too, come become such. The program lasted just one year. The students showered me with gifts in the end, and with a surprise classroom party.
A few years later, a young woman came to work in the United States Attorney's Office, in KC, where I then worked, as a clerk. I was delighted! she regaled in my tutelage at Lincoln. After that, a former male student, sent his sister to me with a worker's compensation case, when I was in private practice; that male student had become a railroad executive in France. Finally, a few years later, another of my students, a Senior V.P. with Charles Schwab & Co. retained me to represent him in his legal case. in KC, while he lived and worked in Florida.
At a concert in KC, a young man in a gas mask approached me, with marijuana smoke seeping from its seals. Turned out to be another of my students! "Mr. Coleman! Mr. Coleman!" he said, "I'll bet you didn't recognize me, did you?" No indeed! I conceded. I took this example to talk about drugs and chemistry, relative to obtaining "utilizable skills" in life, rather than being victimized by any public, scurrilous conduct. No names were mentioned. I later learned he had eared a degree in chemistry from a Missouri university. Praise God!
All of these wonderful experiences rewarded me for my work, as a volunteer- educator. All rewards are not immediate; nor cash. Feelings of love, joy, communion, hope are rewarding !
Sunday, December 16, 2018
LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL DELIGHTS
LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL WAS A LABOR OF LOVE
One of my most savoring experiences was being a volunteer in education instructor at Lincoln High School KCMO, 1977-1978, when I was employed by the U.S, Dept. of Labor.
As a new Missouri lawyer, I had applied to teach at Lincoln, in a joint program with the KC Bar and the school district, when Dr. Charles Wheeler was Superintendent. Mrs. Katherine Smith was the teacher to whose room I was assigned. The students were bright, eager, attentive and disciplined. While we were supposed to talk about juvenile delinquency, I knew better then to bring that mess into my context. it was not me!
So, me being me, I brought in black history, spirituality, and upward mobility to these all-black students. Consequently, I brought in stock brokers, commodities dealers, real estate brokers, insurance agents, physicians. and others, after explaining to the class how these people interacted with their lives, and showing them, how they, too, come become such. The program lasted just one year. The students showered me with gifts in the end, and with a surprise classroom party.
A few years later, a young woman came to work in the United States Attorney's Office, in KC, where I then worked, as a clerk. I was delighted! she regaled in my tutelage at Lincoln. After that, a former male student, sent his sister to me with a worker's compensation case, when I was in private practice; that male student had become a railroad executive in France. Finally, a few years later, another of my students, a Senior V.P. with Charles Schwab & Co. retained me to represent him in his legal case. in KC, while he lived and worked in Florida.
At a concert in KC, a young man in a gas mask approached me, with marijuana smoke seeping from its seals. Turned out to be another of my students! "Mr. Coleman! Mr. Coleman!" he said, "I'll bet you didn't recognize me, did you?" No indeed! I conceded. I took this example to talk about drugs and chemistry, relative to obtaining "utilizable skills" in life, rather than being victimized by any public, scurrilous conduct. No names were mentioned. I later learned he had eared a degree in chemistry from a Missouri university. Praise God!
All of these wonderful experiences rewarded me for my work, as a volunteer- educator. All rewards are not immediate; nor cash. Feelings of love, joy, communion, hope are rewarding !
