Memories are the stories of our lives. I first met John when I was 18 years old and he was 27. We both were camp counselors at AFL-CIO Day camp. The camp, sponsored by this unions local branch, was out on Scenic Dr. between the Block House and Northshore beach. It was one fantastic place for children of union members ages 10,11,and 12 years old. They also invited children considered under priviledged in Muskegon County. Buses picked you up for one week each summer
so you could enjoy the day camp experience. Each week it was a different group of children from a different part of the area.
John was a teacher and it was at this time that I realized that most teachers needed a summer job to be able to make ends meet for their families. The pay was very low as I remember but the men usaully drove a bus to add to their pay. I happened to be a counselor on John's bus routes each summer that I worked there. These were the summers of 64,65,66 and 67. I was in college and came home to this summer job during these years.
John drove one of 4 buses so every session we had 200 new kids for the week. The boys had men counselors and of course the girls had the women. Each group had to put on skits, sing songs, learn to tell stories, make their own lunches for their group, went on long hikes to Lost Lake or the Block House, learn the flora and fauna of the area and get swimming lessons in Lake Michigan. Each child also received a doctor's physical on the first day. Every week some children were found to have something that they might pass on to the other children or that caused them pain so they had to be taken back home.
John and I were selected to be the two counselors to take these kids back to their homes. We wre both people who could make others laugh and had the ability to empathize without making kids or parents feel put down or put on the spot. We learned more from these trips than almost anything else we ever did with kids.
Children with ring worm the size of their chest or kids with absessed teeth that would have put eirther of us down, and even other things I won't go into here. John was the most capable person I had ever seen work through these problems with the parents. He had just the right amount of empathy and command of the needs of the caretaker that it made it an easy situation rather than confrontational as it might have been with a different approach. We also had resources to assist the parent with if they needed it. I don't know if many people ever experienced this part of John's personality but after the first few times I learned so much from John that together we made a great team for those kids who were so sad that they had to miss this great experience.
John taught science for 32 years to some 4800 junior high/middle school kids. He did it well. I wonder how many of the people who keep saying that our schools are failing could have done the job with even a fraction of the skill and love that he did it with...you are loved by more people than most people will ever even come close to encountering let alone influence in their lives. The world is a better place for you having been in it and you wouldn't believe anyone would have said this about you...would you?##imported-begin##Charlene Romanosky##imported-end##
