Going Back To School

You might find this hard to believe but there was a time when I was a highly sought after speaker.  Many of these were for career days, reading programs and more when it came to schools but I also did quite a few banquets and special events.  I like to say that’s when I was pretty famous for co-hosting and being part of the morning show on 92.7 WOBM.

Now in the twilight of my career those have gone away and even in pre-pandemic days I was turning down more than I accepted.  It took me about 30 years to finally learn how to say NO but once I did I became good at it.

So it’s rather surprising that I had no hesitation last month in accepting an invitation from Barbara Stansbury to speak to a pair of her English classes at Brick Memorial High School.  My interest was sparked because the course, Sports Literature is a new one at the school and replaces a traditional 11^th or 12^th grade English course.

So on Wednesday I spoke to her two classes who were joined by other classes during a pair of hour-long sessions in the school’s auditorium.  The students were pretty engaged, asked some good questions and were generally fun to be around. It didn’t take me long to realize why Mrs. Stansbury was voted Teacher of the Year twice in the last seven years, a title she currently holds.  She is enthusiastic and creative and clearly motivates and gets the best out of her students.

Meanwhile I actually had fun being around kids 50 years younger than me.  Maybe I’ll do it again.  A cash donation would help.