for Mr. Swanger……
The weekly prompt suggested a tight crop, an abstract, perhaps some architectural lines of buildings. Hmmm. Here is my series in response to geometry.
I’m thinking parallel lines never meet. And then the intersecting lines, plotting points.
I loved geometry and the love of it came from the teacher whom I remember so well this evening as I write this post: Geometry.
I’m thinking of one of the best teachers I ever had- Mr. Swanger, in Morristown High School, New Jersey. I’m sure you have memorable teachers whom you remember, too.
Did a quick search and found this wonderful tribute in the Morris Educational Foundation publication.
Here is an excerpt and a link to the information about Saul Swanger Fellowship for New Teachers
“its purpose is “to encourage effective, innovative new teachers to pursue a lifetime of excellence in public education through the award of professional development fellowships, which help them to explore a professional passion, to pursue a course of study and/or undertake activities which would not otherwise be possible.”
The Legacy of Saul S. Swanger
Whether it was flipping the chalk over his shoulder onto the top rim of the blackboard, his tests with humorous problems about Stanislaus and his incorrigible younger brother Whatalouse, the sweet smell of his pipe smoke, or the warmth with which he embraced all of his students, Saul Swanger is remembered fondly by many generations of MHS alumni.
Mr. Swanger began his teaching career in 1938, teaching English, Ancient History, American History, Sociology, Latin, Spanish, Algebra, and Geometry in a schoolhouse in Claytonia, Nebraska, which was home to students in grades K-12. He came to MHS in 1944 and remained for forty years, thirty of them as Chairman of the Math Department. Immediately prior to his retirement in 1984, the MHS Honor Society changed its name to the Saul S. Swanger Chapter of the National Honor Society.
When asked about his proudest moments, Mr. Swanger said, “Because I continue to live in the same town where I taught, hardly a week goes by without my meeting a former student whom I taught (or whose children or grandchildren I taught), usually to exchange warm and often humorous memories. At times like these, I remember the words of Henry Adams:
‘A teacher affects infinity. He can never tell where his influence stops.’”
In a speech before the Middle States Evaluating Committee, which was reviewing the continued accreditation of MHS, Mr. Swanger spoke of young teachers as “noble and radiant with hope for the future.” He went on to speak of
“teachers who have been able to produce shafts of light,illuminating the darkness…to communicate their love of learning and enlist their students in what they consider the glorious lifelong adventure of learning.”
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