On the Road with Steve Hartman: Back to School

[Music] coming up a retired choral director gets a big surprise from his former students no man deserves this then how one teacher stands up for his colleagues through stand up you gotta do two things to have a short meeting plus we meet one of america's oldest educators what else does you do in life children make the whole world and finally how a blind high school history teacher proves he's right where he should be the classroom is where i belong i think i really believe that all of that and more on this special back to school edition of on the road hello i'm steve hartman thanks for joining us for our cbs news streaming series where once a month we revisit some of my favorite stories from my 25 years on the road as the sun-filled days of summer come to a close other doors open school is back in session anxious and excited students fill the hallways and of course teachers take their place in front of the blackboard or is it whiteboard i don't know i just know it's not inkwell anymore anyway for the next half hour we're going to feature some great stories about amazing teachers who have made an impact up first a high school teacher who proves beyond a shadow of a doubt there's more to some teachers than meets the eye tightrope walker fashion designer crossing guard there are still jobs blind people can't do but the list has been steadily shrinking thanks to trailblazers like jim hughes of farmingdale new york coming through coming through jim's story began more than 20 years ago during a meeting with his college counselor and i said listen i'm interested in teaching she goes oh that's that's really nice which blind school do you want to teach exactly no i want to teach in a public school public high school she goes now it wasn't bad remember we didn't have all this assistive technology back then and there weren't the laws mandating employers give people with disabilities a fair shot what do you mean still jim sent out about 100 resumes i'll be honest and say this is the only real interview i got i came across that resume and as i said it took me by shock how can a blind teacher possibly function in a classroom steve keusen was principal at the time and boy am i glad that i took a second look at that resume because it's made all the difference in the world to generations of students has anyone seen images of soldiers coming home from vietnam by all accounts this history teacher has become one of the best teachers at farmingdale high school it doesn't affect his teaching at all and not in spite of his blindness it almost helps him but because of it he became so good at verbalizing the information to the students in fact the kids say it's their other teachers who can't always see they're blinded with the powerpoints and the handouts and all that every teacher should try a day with a blindfold and really learn how to talk to your students right the other thing he's surprisingly good at is keeping them honest there's no cheating whatsoever what he's too respectful you respect him too much there'll be that rare kid but they're shamed instantly yeah you don't want to be that guy see if you could find the thematic essays the class may be history but these kids are getting their doctorates in integrity you know what i think i put them right on top of here that's what happened and jim hughes is getting all he ever wanted a chance to make a difference the classroom is where i belong i think i really believe that pretty easy to see jim recently completed his 30th year of teaching in our next story we meet a woman whose students lovingly refer to her as granny but don't let the nickname fool you she's no rocker bound has been take a look they say you're never too old to learn but here at the sundance grade school in north plainfield new jersey they're proving you're never too old to teach either see my two ladies yes they still move they sure do that's home economics teacher agnes zeleznick but the kids just call her granny it's a nickname she comes by honestly as the oldest living teacher in america now you're all sick she turns 100 on sunday do you know how old that is very very very very old i know people can get very old like that but i wouldn't think that granny would do it even without a wheelchair without a wheelchair or any chair for that matter fill the bottom up agnes puts in a full day's teaching five days a week this is a good jolly she hasn't burned out on the job partly because she hasn't been doing it that long she was a homemaker most of her life my husband didn't approve of working so he didn't want you to work he wanted me to watch the children so she did then she watched the grandchildren then she played a lot of bridge but that got old and she still felt young so agnes started working here at the age of 81. that's it today she's so devoted to these kids she hasn't even called in six since she was 98. pincushion i just think she loves the children she puts the love into her cooking can you taste this love no you can't taste love but you can feel love i see and all the children love her because she's so nice so compassionate so she perseveres a lot for those reasons and a hundred more today the kids threw her a huge birthday party [Music] not a retirement party mind you she'll be back on monday and hopes to keep working for years to come what else does you do in life children make the whole world or at the very least let's get some more hugs make your day okay agnes passed away back in 2017 at the age of 103 but i've got a feeling her lessons and her legacy won't fade away anytime soon coming up in just a moment we'll meet a texas teacher who reached for the stars and got pretty close we'll be right back welcome back thanks for being with us the woman in our next story launched one of the country's most highly respected high school rocketry programs that's no easy feat in small town texas but this teacher got that done and more watch this in the middle of the texas desert on the border with mexico sits the tiny town of presidio this is the way in three and for some this is the way out if you're a kid looking to escape the poverty and isolation of presidio there's really no greater vehicle than the presidio rocket club there's a thermo there it was launched a few years ago by a firecracker of a science teacher named sheila condino i wanted to teach the kids you wanted something so bad you put your heart into it you grab your parts the goal isn't really to make future rocket scientists it's more just to make futures in rocketry you don't have the instructions of how to build it and that's how life is it doesn't come with instructions you have to make it on your own her teacher knows all about that born dirt poor in the philippines sheila came to the u.s on a temporary work visa came to presidio because no american teachers would now she really wants to stay but to become a permanent resident she has to prove to american immigration officials that she is a person of quote exceptional ability they are asking for more documents more support and i really do not know what else they would want from me you're the best aerospace teacher in america what more could they want thank you it wasn't me saying that you've got the award she was recently honored as the aerospace teacher of the year it was no surprise to her students she'll teach you things and you're learning like this as long as you pay attention of course you're blocking the light she's such a motivating force her kids often get up before sunrise to learn and launch their passion is so present you can probably see it from the moon ejection charge ready tomorrow she and her kids will compete against some of the best schools in the country in the team america rocketry challenge outside washington d.c the challenge this year is to make your rocket go as close to 800 feet as possible then return it to earth in between 43 and 47 seconds 44. oh and one other thing you've got to preserve two raw eggs inside this was fine and to think they do this with equipment that's mostly bagged borrowed and broken on a budget that's mostly bake sales barbecues and a goat auction what's it going to be like if you show up there in washington and win this thing oh my god nobody even knows where we're at and then you represent the united states that would be a big thing and as for her dream of becoming a permanent resident of these united states on that the teacher would be wise to listen to the students never give up you can do anything in this world as long as you never give up sometimes even the sky isn't the limit sheila now teaches at a high school in virginia but she didn't leave her precious presidio students behind she still teaches rocketry to them over the aptly named zoom as for the green card she won't be needing that any longer last year sheila was granted u.s citizenship up next i'd like you to meet a real stand-up guy take a look there we go let's go at a varnette charter school in houston eddie brown is teaching sixth graders about the different forms of energy mechanical energy is movement the kids love him in the classroom good job today but by all accounts eddie is even more effective in the teacher's lounge where he demonstrates the power of laughter she speaks spanish mr brown eddie is always making fun of his frustrations always finding humor in the tortures of the job soon they leave oh and his audience can clearly relate oh you feel that way too i thought i was only one i'm not crazy i already knew my immediate circle of teachers went through it but i didn't know that this transcended districts and states countries eddie discovered that reach quite by accident about a year ago he posted a video on his facebook page called it what public school teachers really say professional development i'm as professionally developed as i'm gonna get that video went viral as did the next this is why i tipped the bartender so much she don't the one that understands me and now 60 videos later that ordinary science teacher from houston is an icon among educators selling out his teachers only comedy tour across the country it's like elvis with a master's degree performing an entire set about mandatory staff meetings to have a short meeting [Applause] what did you tap into that's what they want to say and don't say first of all we don't get paid enough i can't stress that enough it's not being able to teach how you want to teach and in that sense there's nothing funny about his comedy there's this underlying theme to each joke that teachers are fed up with being micromanaged and would like to be trusted again in fact at the end of each concert eddie is as serious as detention so don't let them snatch your creativity and that's how this one man came to speak for an occupation in 2017 eddie decided to step away from his role as a teacher to pursue comedy full-time since then he's been on three tours and he's actually out on tour right now after the break how a group of students sung the praises of the music teacher who changed their lives we'll be right back welcome back we hope you're enjoying this special show celebrating the start of the new school year and all the amazing teachers who make it possible in front of the classroom he stood alone for 30 years but take a look at the chorus of appreciation we saw from his oklahoma students on quiet days which they all are now retired high school music teacher robert moore likes to pour over the list the names of all 900 of his former students 1966 to 1996. 30 years directing one of the greatest high school choral groups in the country the ponca city corral of ponca city oklahoma what he wouldn't give to relive those times wouldn't it be great to get those kids back together but there's no way that could happen no actually i was playing dumb there is very much a way and it was already in the works but it would be fun unbeknownst to mr moore for the past year a small group of students have been plotting a surprise they lured him out to the country and then hit him with the greatest gift a teacher can receive my gosh from across america and three foreign countries robert moore's former students returned generally nearly 300 of them all here to tell mr moore the huge difference he made in their lives manny went into education you're the reason sir i'm teaching right now many more pursued music had a 25-year career singing with the ellie opera and all around the country and it wouldn't happen without you just a man who touched so many lives helped turn my life around not real sure where i'd be without him to repay their debt of gratitude the students rented out the old pumpkin theater and put on one last show for their mentor [Music] their harmonic voices and their cumulative success are no doubt a testament to what a good teacher can accomplish in a career and i say good teacher which isn't always the same as a likable teacher discipline was huge lots and lots of discipline he was not warm and fuzzy not at all not a lot of hugging not a lot of affection but if you got a little smile from him half of a grin from him that was gold and on this night they definitely hit gold no man deserves this tough teachers often go unappreciated for years but if they're great eventually the thanks do come thundering giving the teacher an opportunity at last i loved you then to show his students how he felt all along and i love you now thank you [Applause] that's still one of my favorite stories our next story takes us to sunny florida land of beaches and orange groves and a snowman well they say teachers can do the impossible so let's find out it all started here at south shore charter academy outside tampa when teacher robin hughes opened a book about snow it's cold and got a frosty reception they just had this perplexed look on their face then that's when i asked the question how many of you all have never seen snow before as we first reported a few months ago a lot of you hands shot up yeah never seen snow i started on a tv show like ice ages it's not like what is snow people clearly robin had tapped into a desperate yearning that she wanted to satisfy unfortunately it hasn't snowed in central florida in 45 years still robin wasn't about to let a little thing like meteorology get in her way so she reached out to her sister in kentucky and went full out frozen she asked me if i want to build a snowman amber estes begrudgingly agreed to ship her sister this snowman and i said if he makes it to tampa his name is going to be lucky he made it meet lucky he made it i was so excited when i opened the box i mean i could not wait to go in the classroom with them so all winter long lucky ventured out of the cafeteria freezer ever so briefly to grant these poor snow deprived children a chance to see and feel the mini miracle that is a snowman and as a teacher that's what you want you just want that joy the first time i met lucky i said he's handsome like a boy yes perhaps no one was more smitten than five-year-old momo i love him i knew i would kiss him i knew it is that the first boy you wanted to kiss yes and the second boy i'm going to kiss you okay good sorry it has been two months since we first told this story and all these warm greetings have finally taken their toll there we go look at that on earth day the kids reintroduced lucky back into the water cycle so maybe you can guys see him another day and although goodbyes are always hard the nice thing about life on earth lucky's gonna forever live in our hearts is that for every farewell there's a hello it's nice to meet you lucky the tree lucky the tree i'll do with momo when her students melted lucky robin took some of the water and put it in a necklace that she wears every day now in remembrance of him up next we meet a calculus teacher from california with an alter ego his students never saw coming welcome back students at st francis high school thought their math teacher was who he seemed to be however one student found out you can't even judge a calculus book by its cover take a look there's something to be said about math teacher jim o'connor substitute back for why the question is what is that something around it when you think of him does the word love come to mind obviously not he's very for whatever reason none of these kids would tell me what they really think of him oh what's the word yeah none of the boys have come in here and said oh god we have hated him you know at times nobody said that i wonder why he's going to be seeing this right oh yeah that's why truth is mr o'connor can be a bit of a drudge you don't know what you're doing but the 70-year-old vietnam vet says he's not here to entertain his students it drives me crazy when people say school should be fun i mean it's nice if it could be but you can't make school fun either kt times either c and for years the kids thought that's all there was to him until last november when senior pat mcgoldrick learned they didn't know the half of him pat was in charge of a student blood drive and had just come here to children's hospital los angeles for a meeting he says it was weird whenever he told someone he went to saint francis high school they all said oh you must know jim o'connor isn't he wonderful wonderful what's like and then his disbelief really it's almost like kind of finding this alter ego that he has inside the blood donor center pat found a plaque listing all the top blood donors at the hospital including the record holder jim o'connor then he learned something even more unbelievable that whenever mr o'connor isn't torturing kids with calculus he's on a whole nother tangent cuddling sick babies come on you can talk to me three days a week for the past 20 years jim has volunteered here stepping in when parents can't to hold feed and comfort their children so low nurse aaron schmidt says he's invaluable they tend to calm for him they tend to relax with him they fall asleep with him i just like them and relate to them somehow is that a smile jim's never been married he has no kids of his own but he has fallen hard for these babies i don't want to see him alone you can't do that you're not a tough guy at all i know but don't don't tell my students if you do the calculation sometimes you think you know someone but you don't have the slightest sometimes you think you're learning calculus but the real lesson is life i've always like respected him um but now it's an even a different degree really is to the point where i try to emulate him he's the epitome of a man of service believe it or not he still goes to the hospital three times a week just to hold his babies well that concludes our special we wish you all a wonderful school year and remember for brand new on the road stories don't forget to tune in to the cbs evening news with nora o'donnell every friday night until then i'm steve hartman stay kind you

Channel: CBS News

Views: 97,232

Keywords: cbs news, steve hartman, education, teachers, school, fall, students, school year, stories, community, on the road

Id: I-UpLrwmuqw

Length: 23min 24sec (1404 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 17 2022