Brandon Twp.- Many Americans remember Nov. 22, 1963 as the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Gary Medland also remembers that day as the day he knew he wanted to be a teacher.
Medland, now 55, was in sixth grade that fateful day when his male teacher broke the news to the class. The teacher then began crying.
‘He showed me that teachers are truly human that day,? says Medland. ‘He really had feelings. It had a big impact.?
Medland, who always liked school, has now spent 50 years of his life in it, 33 of those years as a teacher. In a little more than a month, he will retire after 32 years as a teacher at Brandon High School.
After graduating from Michigan State University in 1974, Medland taught English for a year at Lake Fenton High School. He came to Brandon High School in 1975, starting out as an English teacher, and then slowly working into the social studies department, teaching government.
‘I like teaching government,? says Medland. ‘It impacts all of our lives, all the time. It’s fun to teach kids, to see when the light goes on and you see they understand exactly what you’re saying.?
Medland recalls a few humorous times when the light came on for kids. One year, in civics, Medland asked the class where the capital of the United States was and when they responded correctly, he then showed them where Washington, DC is located on a map. One student expressed surprise, having always thought it was in Washington state. Another time, a student was relieved to learn the U.S. capital was actually in the U.S., not in British Columbia in Canada as he had thought.
Medland has also taught the technical aspects of television broadcasting for 15 years. Students produce their own projects as part of the class. About 10 years ago, Medland remembers, he had some students come to his class visibly shaken after taping their project, a take-off on the COPS television show.
The students had used two cars on their own time, taping one as a police car chasing the other suspect vehicle. The taping ended at Tom’s Market in Ortonville, with the students staging a gun showdown using plastic guns as part of the taping. A real sheriff’s deputy driving by took the situation as real.
‘On the tape the students brought in, you could hear the deputy yelling for the students to drop their weapons,? says Medland. ‘You can hear his gun being cocked. Fortunately, the kids did exactly as they were told.?
Medland adds that the kids? project turned out well and they got an ‘A.? He now tells students to tell everyone what they are doing for projects so they know what is going on and there are no surprises.
Medland has enjoyed being around high-school aged kids. Even though he says they drive him nuts sometimes, he notes it is fun watching them change in maturity and interact with them.
What he dislikes about teaching is the meddling by people in authority positions, particularly at the state and federal levels, who he says don’t know what teaching is about and pass rules and regulations that have unrealistic expectations. He uses the No Child Left Behind Act as an example.
‘The words sound nice, the goal admirable, but not everyone is the same,? Medland said. ‘They don’t learn the same things at the same rate at the same time.?
Besides teaching, Medland is also in his 27th year as a track coach at Brandon. He has always liked to run, and has completed the Detroit Free Press Marathon three times, the last in 1992.
‘I still remember the pain,? he laughs. ‘I don’t need to do those things any more.?
Now, he is ready to retire from teaching, too. He plans to travel with his wife of 33 years, Carolyn (the pair have two sons, Kurt, 27 and Patrick, 25) and spend more time in his cabin up north.
‘It’s my time,? he says, smiling.