a new perspective on passion

A great man died last week, technically last year, but you probably have never heard of him. He wasn’t a TV star or famous author. He wasn’t a celebrity chef or singer. He never starred on his own reality show, nor did he write a blog. He probably didn’t know what a blog was. He was a teacher.
He was not your ordinary teacher by far. His methodology was unorthodox and could never be duplicated. He was truly passionate about his subject, math. He was even more passionate about the success of his students.  He would spend hours with students after school helping them to understand.  You could pretty much be guaranteed to find him in his classroom 5pm on a Friday afternoon, long after his colleagues had already left for the weekend.  There he would be at his desk, sometimes surrounded by a huddle of students other times just helping one, but he was there, for 42 years, he was there.

He was equally passionate about the theater.  A gifted choreographer for the high school musicals.  An avid fan of Broadway and off-Broadway productions.

He was a many of several passions.  I was fortunate to be his colleague.  I would have been privileged to be one of his students, one of the thousands.

His students were successful because of him, he was a success because of his students.

May he rest in peace.