{"id":21000,"date":"2022-04-19T14:33:02","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T18:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21000"},"modified":"2022-04-19T14:39:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T18:39:46","slug":"fwd-episode-566-to-sir-with-love-john-ricker-turns-99-years-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21000","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: EPISODE 566 “TO SIR, WITH LOVE!” JOHN RICKER TURNS 99 YEARS OLD"},"content":{"rendered":"

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EPISODE 566   \u201cTO SIR, WITH LOVE!\u201d  JOHN RICKER TURNS 99 YEARS OLD<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
April 19, 2022<\/div>\n

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John Ricker, teacher (and other things that do not really matter as much)<\/div>\n


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Impact on one young teacher<\/p><\/div>\n


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Teachable moments do occur, and this is one of them.  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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(THIS note was intended as a birthday card to John Ricker, my teacher, but now seems<\/div>\n
it should be a bit bigger than that.  So it is now EPISODE 566, very personal kind of Episode.)<\/div>\n

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Hi Marvi and John<\/p>\n


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Of course Marjorie and I want to wish John a Happy Birthday\u202699 years…the Castelfield <\/div>\n
Institute has been a wonderful way of maintaining contact with you<\/div>\n
John.  <\/div>\n

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 I am so glad you forgot to send my bill for all those bottles of beer<\/div>\n
and sandwiches.  Do not send bill now\u2026too deep in the past.<\/div>\n

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I remember my grandmother and grandfather celebrating their 95th<\/div>\n
 and grandma said to me: \u201cAlan, it seems like only yesterday.\u201d<\/div>\n
She was referring to her lifespan\u2026this motivated me to try and put<\/div>\n
that lifespan together so others could share in her life history.  The research<\/div>\n
sure surprised me and I am still digging.  i.e. Was the rather infamous<\/div>\n
Dr. Price, a Welshman who impregnated many women including my<\/div>\n
great Grandmother,\u2026was he really that Dr. Price?   <\/div>\n

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Family lore said Dr. Price was a man who evaded responsibility.  By<\/div>\n
digging I discovered that was not the case.  He disbelieved in marriage<\/div>\n
but paid for my grandmother to attend a very fancy ladies college<\/div>\n
in Kington\u2026she emerged as a \u2018lady\u2019 which meant my grandfather was<\/div>\n
expected to tip his hat to her.  I am not sure he did that.<\/div>\n

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Why tell you this?  Because \u201conly yesterday\u201d applies so well to you<\/div>\n
and the richness of your past.  I can only imagine your pacifist father\u2019s<\/div>\n
shock when he discovered you had volunteered for the air force.<\/div>\n
And I know much about the horror you faced in bomber command.;;<\/div>\n
and can feel the loss you felt when so many friends did not return.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 But also you resolved to get on with life and make a career of teaching<\/p><\/div>\n

young people\u2026.kept life upbeat, meaningful and very very humourous no <\/div>\n
matter how serious the matter under discussion.  
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Only yesterday!   Lots of good times, John, especially the impact you<\/div>\n
had on me as a very naive potential teacher.  Your \u2018antics\u2019 at the<\/div>\n
front of the room were worth replicating with warmth and gusto.<\/div>\n
Always a serious thread of solid history giving your lessons real meaning.<\/div>\n

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I remember one odd lesson on \u201cdoing projects\u201d where your students<\/div>\n
at Parkdale made historical objects like siege weapons of ancient <\/div>\n
times.   My students did the same only went one better.  The girls<\/div>\n
made dresses \u2026 i.e. Marie Antoinette\u2019s dress\u2026and wore them<\/div>\n
to class.  One dress I kept to show other students and then returned <\/div>\n
it to her 30 years later.  \u201cSir, I swiped the dress material from a yard<\/div>\n
goods store in Parkdale.\u201d  How could she do that?  Under her own<\/div>\n
dress?  I should have asked.<\/div>\n

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One of the things that makes me really good about the career path<\/div>\n
you sent me on at Parkdale is the continuing contact I have with<\/div>\n
some of the ex-students.  Two of them, Jeanette Chau and Julia (Walkely) Sherman.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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even nominated me for<\/div>\n
some \u2018writer of the year\u2019 award in Mississauga.  Imagine that?<\/div>\n
After retiring in 1999\u2026being still remembered.    Like you I am out to pasture and enjoying the<\/div>\n
rich red clover that the bees enjoy. To be remembered is Sweet all the same.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
  I wager you feel good about being remembered by so many<\/div>\n
people you have taught.  Know you do because I have heard you mention<\/div>\n
them.  <\/div>\n


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What was I doing at the OCE winter program when most of my<\/div>\n
friends had taken the speed up summer program?   I thought<\/div>\n
the longer course would be better.  And to do so I turned down<\/div>\n
many job offers from Humberside and others.  If I was to be a<\/div>\n
teacher I wanted the best grounding possible.  And got it.<\/div>\n
Partway through the winter course you sent me to Brockville for<\/div>\n
a paid job for two weeks.  What a rare privilege.  Accomodation was arranged <\/div>\n
with an Irish family that wanted me to play checkers with them<\/div>\n
each evening.  How could I prepare lessons?  Only after they went to bed.<\/div>\n
But Must do the lessons.  Not hired as a babysitter.  Those kids expected some big questions.   Some<\/div>\n
of my best lessons began the way you began often.  \u201cCan you help me.\u201d  \u201cI do not for<\/div>\n
the life of me understand why Riel was executed by John A.. Macdonald?\u201d<\/div>\n
(long long pause) ” Can anyone help me?\u201d<\/div>\n

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Homework!   A thorny isaue.  Too much homework can destroy the<\/div>\n
impact of the big questions.   Maybe best to ignore homework.  Most boys<\/div>\n
would not do homework anyway.  Some could not read.  Some could<\/div>\n
not understand abstractions anyway.  Some did not give a damn.<\/div>\n
But all were capable of being motivated.<\/div>\n

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I remember another teacher who you must have known.  Evan Cruickshank<\/div>\n
was my teacher at Humberside then moved to Parkdale.  You two had<\/div>\n
similarities in that you could motivate students with big questions.  \u201cCrooky\u201d<\/div>\n
once said in class in answer to a student question\u2026\u201dI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/div>\n
That night I went to the library ro help him out and told him privatley  the next day<\/div>\n
the info he needed.  He thanked me.  Later I realized it was a teaching method.<\/div>\n
He could trigger kids to do things they rarely did\u2026like doing research in<\/div>\n
a library\u2026alone.  <\/div>\n

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Difficult students were a challenge.  I loved trying to turn them around.<\/div>\n
Like the kids that told me to \u2018Fuck Off!\u201d  They were the best to turn<\/div>\n
around and the easiest.  You told me I would meet these kids.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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If a kid reached the stage of frustration that<\/div>\n
he or she was ready to use that expletive then the student was ready<\/div>\n
for a teachable moment.   Lots of unhappy kids at Parkdale.  Kids<\/div>\n
that needed help without fawning.  \u201cAlan, if you take the job at Parkdale,<\/div>\n
you will never leave.\u201d  You were so right, John.  And what an honour to<\/div>\n
be a teacher in the school where you were once a student and became<\/div>\n
a teacher after the horrors of World War II.  It was a trust bestowed.<\/div>\n

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Then there was Simon Cotter.  President of the student council who<\/p><\/div>\n

had a skill that bothered some teachers.  He was a leader and became<\/div>\n
our pseudo principal which was hard for some  teachers to accept. I<\/div>\n
think you would have loved him\u2026just rebellious enough to be loved.<\/div>\n
\u201cSir can you help me out\u2026bit of a jam\u2026.organized a school trip to Hawaii<\/div>\n
on March break.  Travel company assumed there was a teacher chaperone.<\/div>\n
Danger it will be cancelled. Lots of the kids saved all summer for  this trip<\/div>\n
and they could lose  their money.  Could you come along?\u201d \u201cAs long<\/div>\n
as I can pay for Marjorie and our boys.\u201d  What an adventure that <\/div>\n
turned into.  Simon ran the show.   Our kids were young and disappeared in<\/div>\n
the arms of the tripsters much of the time. Sort of a role reversal with a good dash of respect.<\/div>\n
Allowed us to really get to know students who did not need coddling. No favouritism.<\/div>\n
We were all along for the ride.  \u201cAlan, those are street kids\u2026you are going to have<\/div>\n
trouble\u2026cancel the trip.\u201d   Street kids were the best kids to take on a trip.  They knew<\/div>\n
how to avoid trouble.  You would have loved that trip.  <\/div>\n

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In your OCE classes way back in 1963 there was no one in the room<\/div>\n
that you did not notice.  A collective.  No favouritism.  All were tied up in one bundle.<\/div>\n
I loved that.  Sucking around was never something I liked doing.<\/div>\n
I wanted my teachers to be above favouritism even if they had favourites.<\/div>\n
Some of the students i taught so many years ago still call me \u201cSir\u201d<\/div>\n
and have difficulty calling me \u201cAlan\u201d which to me means there was respect<\/div>\n
for the distance between teachers and students.  And no favoritism even<\/div>\n
if I had favoriites like Conrad Blonski whose mother was barely holding<\/div>\n
on\u2026living below the poverty line as a \u201ccarnie\u201d with a popgun booth<\/div>\n
at local carnivals.  \u201cWhere do you sleep, Conrad?\u201d \u201cOn the floor beneath<\/div>\n
the popguns.\u201d he said without feeling sorry for himself.  Who could not love<\/div>\n
such a kid.?  He loved me.  Sounds so vain to say that.  How do I know?  Because he punched me<\/div>\n
on the shoulder often with a \u201c:good morning, sir\u201d   The happiest times of his<\/div>\n
life were his student days at Parkdale.  Sad to say that.  Good teachers<\/div>\n
have that skill.   You did.  I tried to emulate.  No sucking around.  Respect.<\/div>\n

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Rather long \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d, John.  But it could be one hell of s lot longer.<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
(we have known each other<\/div>\n
for 63 years\u2026I now call you John<\/div>\n
but called you \u2019sir\u2019 for many years.)<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou know something kids?  Our prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, is not particularly interested<\/div>\n
in what teachers have to say\u2026but he is very interested in what you have to say.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSo what, sir?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSo, I bet five dollars, that if you sent him an invitation to speak at Parkdale, he would come.<\/div>\n
If I sent that letter, it would be ignored.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGo away, sir.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWrite the letter.\u201d<\/div>\n

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And so my Grade Ten class wrote the letter and sure as god made little green apples,<\/div>\n
we had a visit from our Prime Minister.<\/div>\n

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Now why should I tell you this, John, on your 99th birthday?  Because you had that<\/div>\n
ability to make young people feel important\u2026feel wanted\u2026feel their opinions and actions<\/div>\n
mattered.   I tried to do the same.<\/div>\n

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\u201cGuess what the first thing he said when he arrived?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo idea, sir.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s the washroom?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cSir, why did he come to Parkdale?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBy election may have had something to do with it.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Parkdale Collegiate History Department, big wheels\u2026in their own minds anyway.<\/div>\n
Made to feel so by Parkdale students.  <\/div>\n

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CONCUSION<\/div>\n

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Below are two pictures of a Penny Archade Carnival sideshow.<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s time for you to guess why I have chosen to put these<\/div>\n
two pictures into your birthday card, John.  Abstract reasoning is<\/div>\n
a skill where two seemingly meaningless events are made sensible.<\/div>\n

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Meaning?  Let me guess.<\/div>\n
1) Big events are part of life.<\/div>\n
2) The ability to laugh is a treasure.<\/div>\n
3) Men may not lead as well as women<\/div>\n
4) Put a nickel in the life machine and see where it leads.<\/div>\n
5) Life is a sideshow, keep that in mind.<\/div>\n
6) Do not take yourself too seriously<\/div>\n
7) History is full  of bumps and grinds.<\/div>\n
8) Making a living is not easy<\/div>\n
9) What\u2019s the big idea today, sir?<\/div>\n
10) Sex appeal drives us on.<\/div>\n

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11) No meaning whatever, only the big man at the<\/div>\n
carnival has a striking resemblance to John Ricker\u2026compare<\/div>\n
the pictures\u2026just for the hell of it.  Do I need to Apologise?  yes.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
april 2022<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 566   \u201cTO SIR, WITH LOVE!\u201d  JOHN RICKER TURNS 99 YEARS OLD alan skeoch April 19, 2022 John Ricker, teacher (and other things that do not really matter as much) Impact on one young teacher Teachable moments do occur, and this is one of them.   (THIS note was intended as a birthday card […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}