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Hooper: A tribute to my Godby High School instructors

 
Tampa Bay Times columnist Ernest Hooper, far right, recently joined five others for induction into the Godby High Hall of Fame, created and supported by the Association of Godby Graduates. Also pictured: Santanu Kumar, Hugh Curry, Marcus Sachs, Sheddrick "Buck" Gurley and Steven Barrow. MITCH GANS | Special to the Times
Tampa Bay Times columnist Ernest Hooper, far right, recently joined five others for induction into the Godby High Hall of Fame, created and supported by the Association of Godby Graduates. Also pictured: Santanu Kumar, Hugh Curry, Marcus Sachs, Sheddrick "Buck" Gurley and Steven Barrow. MITCH GANS | Special to the Times
Published April 21, 2018

Every time I see an algebraic formula, Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Landreth and Mrs. McBee flash through my mind.

If you say history, I say Mr. Groot and Mrs. Melton. If you say civics, I say Mrs. Jennings and Mrs. Hunt.

I type using the "home keys" because Mrs. Hartsfield would have it no other way.

I refuse to use rearview cameras because I'm sure the late Wilson Holiday, my driver's ed teacher, would roll over in his grave if I didn't steer with my left hand while putting my right hand on the back of the passenger seat.

Without aid of my 1982 yearbook, I can name nearly every teacher I had at Tallahassee's Amos P. Godby High School because the energy they invested in me still resonates.

I remember every instructor in the English Department, my home away from home for four years. I credit them, especially Michele Berlow, my senior year newspaper advisor, for building the foundation that's bolstered my success as a journalist.

Along with principal Bill Montford, they all showed up every day, they cared when sometimes I didn't, and they guided with love.

I recently reflected on the blessings these teachers brought into my life during my induction into the Godby High School Hall of Fame earlier this month. I wasn't alone. The five other honorees who joined me also spoke glowingly of the impact of their high school heroes.

Hugh Curry, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, currently works in the Directorate for Defense Intelligence at the Pentagon; Marcus Sachs, a retired Army Corps of Engineers veteran, once served on Condoleeza Rice's National Security Council and continues to be a leader in the cyber security industry; Santanu Datta is a Duke University professor and medical researcher at the Durham Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care; Steven Barrow is a sergeant with the Leon County Sheriff's Office who supervises the Special Victims Unit and has spent most of his adult life volunteering to work with children with learning disabilities; Sheddrick "Buck" Gurley is a championship athlete, including winning a Super Bowl with the Bucs, who now works with students in Orlando.

They, like me, trace their success to the seeds of hope planted by our Godby High teachers. Its not a coincidence that we're all connected by the thread of community service.

Sadly, resources for such traditional public schools are now being diverted to charter and private schools under the guise that places like Godby can no longer produce such stand-out citizens.

Is it really a good idea to weaken institutions that enable teens to blossom through meaningful student-teacher relationships?

Why does school choice have to mean choosing to undermine the schools we need in favor of the schools backed by legislators who possess a clear conflict of interest? Why can't charter, private and public schools coexist on a level playing field?

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I'm convinced a new group of Godby Cougars will step up for induction into the school's Hall of Fame 20 years from now, with equally remarkable accomplishments.

It would be nice, however, if we offered a hand to the teachers and administrators working hard to be the change-agents we so desperately need.

That's all I'm saying.