Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Facebook Has One Good Use


I am not a great fan of Facebook. I really don't talk to or connect with very many people on my list. But that is just me. This week one of my contacts from high school let us know that one of our favorite teachers died of cancer.

Gorden Snell was a great guy. He taught physics and would give us these huge take home tests. A bunch of us would get together in a group and basically teach each other how to solve the problems. It was a great teaching technique that actually made you care about the subject. I may not have been good in math but I could balance chemical equations and solve motion and force problems with the best of them.

Every Tuesday and Friday mornings at 7 AM, the grade 12 kids had the privilege of playing the teachers at floor hockey. It was intense, high action hockey with no quarter given or asked for. He always showed up and gave as good as he got. He made me a better goalie just to keep up with his skill.

He lived next door to one of my best friends and would invite us over to his house for food most every time we gathered to swim in my friend's pool. He taught me to make the most wicked seafood soup you can imagine.

He was a tough teacher inside the classroom but a totally decent human being out of it. I will miss Mr Snell. Alot of what I took away from knowing him made me a better teacher and a better person. We should all be that lucky to know a great man like that. May you rest in peace brother.

5 comments:

Cheeseboy said...

Wow. he sounds like a great teacher, especially if he had that kind of impact on you all these (few) years later. I hope I will be that teacher someday.

JS@NYC said...

Very touching and inspirational...

Sam G said...

My thoughts and condolences.

Amy said...

My condolences. I wish I had had a teacher like that growing up.

Megan said...

RIP Mr Snell.

And that's as far back in your posts as I'm going with my comments tonight.

Stupid, I know, but it sounds like he deserves it.