Lomond Enrichment Resource Teacher and IB coordinator Jim Henry wraps up his 29 years of teaching in Shaker Schools this June. In all, he’s been a teacher for nearly 40 years and, at last, retirement beckons.
Mr. Henry is a gentle soul with an unassuming way (though if you dig, he’ll reluctantly admit that he’s built his own house, competed in an Ironman last year and will run his fifth Boston Marathon on April 16). He captivates his students with stories and pictures from the four years he spent teaching in the far reaches or Alaska. Beyond his stories, teaching in Alaska was more than pure adventure: it’s also where he learned the importance of reading instruction and building relationships with students. And those very skills were at the heart of his success in Shaker.
Learn more about Mr. Henry, his incredible past and what he has planned for his future.
How did you end up teaching in Alaska?
I’m originally from outside Chagrin Falls and I went to Hiram College. And during my senior year, I knew that I wanted to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. So after I graduated, I went down to farm country in Marion, Ohio to get some experience. I taught fourth grade and coached girls track and middle school football. As soon as that year was over, I took my experience, loaded up my car and drove straight to a placement service in Alaska. I didn’t have anywhere to stay and I learned that if I took a class at the University in Fairbanks, I could stay in the dorm for $5 a night. Then I got a call from the Iditarod Area School District on the Yukon River that was about 1,000 miles away. It was the kind of place where the plane only comes in twice a week and where the Iditarod sled dog race passes by. I got there and the superintendent and the principal took me right to the bar for my interview. I stayed at the school board president’s house on the floor for a week until the jet came back. I went home and then I got the call that they wanted me.
What was this town on the banks of the Yukon River like?
I taught in the village of Anvik, but it’s part of a school district that’s about the size of Ohio with a total of 300 kids. At my school, there were about 32 students, K-12 and I taught the kids in grades K-4. I was also the basketball, wrestling and cross-country skiing coach. I lived in a cabin that had no phones and no indoor plumbing. And when I got there, I learned that every year, the river flooded in the summer, so the cabin would get swept up by the current, but it was tethered by its electrical wires. So when you’d come back in the fall, the cabin wouldn’t be in the same place. The craziest thing was that since I had a year of experience, which was more than the other two teachers, they also made me the principal. I still remember that first year, I made $22,000. The good thing was that we were in a place that was so remote there was nowhere for me to spend it. I used to joke that on a Friday night, I’d watch the bread rise.
How long were in Alaska?
I spent two years in Anvik and those two years taught me how important reading instruction was. So that’s why I came back home to get my master’s degree in reading at Kent State. After that, I planned to teach at Berkshire Local Schools in Burton, but I got married and my wife said that she’d come up to Alaska with me. So we went back, but this time, I was about 90 miles above the Arctic Circle in a town called Kivalina. Up there, I realized that my students’ world of experiences were so different from mine that I felt like the first thing I had to do was establish relationships. So early on, I’ve have the kids take me out for a field trip to show me where they lived. I realized that I could teach them reading through language and common experiences.
How did you use those experiences prepare you for Shaker?
When I came to Shaker, I was a first-grade teacher and I had a reading workshop where I’d come up with stories together with the students. It combined everything I’d learned in Alaska and what I learned as a reading specialist in Middlefield Schools. Then I got the idea to write my book, Fresh Takes on Using Journals to Teach Beginning Writers. It was a way for me to share everything I’d learned about using an interdisciplinary approach to writing.
How many Shaker Schools have you worked in?
I taught first grade at Lomond for 17 years, then I switched to third and fourth grade, then I worked as a staff assistant at Boulevard, Onaway and Mercer, went back to teaching third grade at Mercer and then came back to Lomond, where I’ve been for the past 10 years. I’ve loved working here---it’s been such a professional place with so many good people and so many opportunities to grow.
What’s next for you in retirement?
I have a lot of house plans. I’m going to build a new garage. I’m running the Boston Marathon in April with two of my kids, so that will be fun. And I’ve heard that Northwest Arctic Schools in Alaska still has a hard time getting teachers to start the school year, so I’m thinking about heading up there with one of my brothers to get a teaching job just in the fall until the school finds a permanent teacher.