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A Lesson for Life [FEB. 12, 2000] Joe Hackett has been teaching fifth grade at Central School in Lincoln for 24 years, and he’s not tired of it yet. He’s in elementary education for three reasons, he says, “the kids, the kids and the kids.” |
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He gets to school about 7:45 each morning, after a stop or two. In Emden, where he’s lived for 28 years and which he describes as a community full of “wonderful, wonderful, wonderful people,” he stops at a local hangout to drink coffee and to see what the farmers are talking about. Then he may stop by Dick Logan’s garage to see what’s going on in the county. At Room 302 at Central, a couple of his students will be waiting for him, needing help with lessons, doing chores in the room, or just passing the time with a teacher they like and trust. When the school day ends, he’s probably hanging around helping students and talking to parents. Then he may stop at Al’s Main Event to catch up with his daughter, Beth Bryan, who’s a waitress there. In the evening he will go on home to spend the evening with his wife, Irene, or he might be found at a wedding, dance, or anniversary party helping his sons Greg and Josh with their deejay service, Music 4 U.
A couple of weeks ago Joe’s ordinary day became something special when Joe found time to call an 800 number to get on the list for the popular television game show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” He made the first cut and will soon find out whether he’s made the second cut to be eligible to try for a spot on the show. But Joe’s true joy comes when his students recognize him. Recently he received a letter from Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers informing him he’d been nominated—for the fifth time—for inclusion in their directory in the year 2000. Who’s Who is a publication that lists “the best teachers in America selected by the best students.” The only way a teacher gets into this prestigious listing is to be nominated by a former student recognized for excellence in either Who’s Who Among American High School Students or The National Dean’s List. This year Joe was designated “the teacher who made a difference” by a former student who made a college dean’s list even though she had once dropped out of high school. “I kept ragging on her to go back to school and get an education and she did,” Joe says. He also admits that he was “humbled” by the letter, even, for a little while, “speechless,” an unusual condition for an outgoing guy who’s ordinarily never at a loss for words. His previous listings in Who’s Who are in the 1992, 1994 and 1996 editions. Two different students nominated him in 1994, and he was also named Educator of the Year by the Lincoln Jaycees. |
Making Who’s Who four times is very unusual, according to Joe’s letter from the organization. “Only 5 % of our nation’s teachers are honored in each edition and less than 2 % are included in more than one edition. Your students are clearly sending you a message of how special you are, a tribute bestowed on very few teachers.” Joe’s love of teaching goes back a long way. At Lincoln College, where he graduated in 1961, a professor urged him to consider a career in education and to visit an elementary classroom. “I stepped into that classroom and knew it was where I wanted to be,” Joe says. “I wouldn’t trade jobs with anybody.” He finished his education at Eastern Illinois University and taught sixth grade at Washington-Monroe for eight years before coming to Central. Joe has high expectations for his students. “I want them to be good citizens when they walk out of this room. In ten years I want to see them and still be proud of them. I want them to be productive citizens and independent thinkers.” He stresses the Three R’s—Responsibility, Respect, and Rights. “These kids have a right to a good education and it’s my responsibility to give them that,” he says. His students know that to stay on his “good side,” they have to be polite to others, behave themselves on the playground, say “please” and “thank you” and “yes” and “no” instead of “yeah” and “uh-uh.” They don’t have to be told to do their assigned chores or keep their desk tops tidy. As a sign of respect they learn to spell the first and last names of all their classmates. Joe’s students learn penmanship and get a grade in it, even though it isn’t officially listed on their report card. They make a lot of decisions about what goes on in the classroom, such as assigning a grade to a fellow student who just gave a report. They hear, over and over, how important it is to get a good education.
Joe uses his classroom to share his hobbies, especially his clowns. On high shelves are well over a hundred clowns, both stuffed dolls and statuettes. Clowns hang from the ceiling and clown pictures decorate the walls, along with an autographed picture of Elvis. Lighthouses, Joe’s newest enthusiasm, are displayed on his desk. Students delight in showing visitors the way one really lights up. Peter Welsh, one of Joe’s students sums him up: “He’s nice, he’s fun, and he’ll help you out when you need it.”
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