A Memory of the Past and a Look to the Future of Teaching

I was so excited to be speaking to the Master of Arts in Teaching students at Duke University today. The MAT is a collaborative program of the Duke Graduate School and the Durham Public School System. Students are prepared to teach in area high schools and are placed in classrooms throughout the district during their studies at Duke. The program, and the students, are phenomenal, but before I even knew that, I was eager to be on that campus.

I was four years old when my family moved to Durham. No one was happier than my father, an avid Duke fan. Many of my childhood memories involve that campus - watching remote control planes flying on the football field, driving by the old Zoology building to see the animals, and attending Duke basketball games. Although my father is no longer around to verify this story, I have heard that he once kicked in the television screen because of a "bad call" during a Duke/North Carolina game. While in high school, my friends and I hung out on the Duke campus often, throwing a football at Duke Gardens and riding up and down Chapel Drive in front of the majestic Duke Chapel. It was a rite of passage to be thrown into the mossy ponds of the gardens. Edible-sized goldfish would scurry out of the way.

But as luck, and finances, would have it, I didn't attend Duke University. I opted for the state supported version of lighter blue eight miles down the road. It didn't take long before my allegiance to the Blue Devils diminished, but I have always loved the campus and consider it part of me.

I feel even more connected now. The fourteen MAT students I spoke with today were enthusiastic future teachers, eager to get into their own classrooms and get started. I spoke with them about my struggles as a new teacher (yes, I can remember 1979,) and I shared my "Expressions for Excellence in Education" that I have learned along the way. I promised to visit each of them in the three Durham high schools that will host them in the fall, and I left excited about the future of teaching.

Before I drove away, I looked across campus at the beauty of the Gothic architecture and was happy that if only for a moment, I again embraced that darker shade of blue. And I thought about a peaceful cemetery in rural Moore County and knew that...somewhere...my Daddy was smiling....