The Joys of Teaching … or Judging the
Judges
Published in Marietta Daily Journal 10/30/21
If one loves a
particular academic subject or a manual skill but doesn’t particularly love and
enjoy people, he or she might still find a measure of joy in teaching it.
However, if one gets no enjoyment from their learners, it’s doubtful that he or
she could bear up for very long in a school or college classroom.
Here
is an example of what helps a teacher bear up and bounce into a classroom day
after day, year after year. In Cobb County’s Wheeler High School 1980 yearbook,
seniors were asked to write a few things for which their fellow graduates might
remember them. Senior Tain Kell wrote, “Likes heck raising, fun, portraits of
famous generals … Dislikes 7:00 AM … Plans for the future: huh?”
I
cannot say when and how the future Cobb County Superior Court Judge raised
heck. I can only testify that he definitely raised both the intellectual and
fun level in his senior English class. Along with his classmate and friend,
Richard Ozment – now Doctor Ozment – the future judge could get us all very
quiet one moment with an incisive comment or question, only to crack us up the
next moment with a hilarious, though precise, illustration of his point. One
day, to the delight of the class, the judge and the medical doctor turned on
each other to seriously debate whether or not Cardinal John Henry Newman’s
definition of education was accurate. The debate was a draw.
The
Kell-Ozment class was no “Welcome Back, Kotter.” Its members were all too intellectually astute
for that comparison; however, in regard to fun and sheer joy, on a Kotter scale
of 1 to 10, the class was a strong 6/7. Let’s just say John Travolta would be
proud.
As
for the “huh?” about his future plans, in a recent delectable confab with Kell
and another former student, former GA Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold
Melton, Judge Kell asserted that he was interested in “The Law” from the first
time he conceived that there was such a thing.” Kell revealed that as with so
many lawyers, the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” had a profound effect on his
desire to be a lawyer. And where lies the joy in being a judge? “I have seen
people change their lives for the better” … and “have seen others exercise an
almost supernatural forgiveness in unforgivable situations.” Having taught in men’s and women’s prisons
for the last decade, I know what the Judge is describing.
Harold
Melton was a 1984 graduate of Wheeler. The pleasure of knowing and teaching him
came about in Melton’s 10th grade English class. Full disclosure:
the faculty lounge is where teachers often “talk about” students, but for
positive purposes such as comparing notes and discussing progress or lack
thereof of individual students. Perhaps as a stress reliever, teachers spend
much time reveling in discussion of students who are exemplary and inspiring.
More than once I heard Melton referred to as “a prince of a guy.”
That
he was. Judge-like even while a 10th grader, Melton listened
intently. Though he stated recently at our confab that he had no interest in a
legal career during college, intentionality was still writ large on his
15-year-old face. Melton was the type who, after a time of confusion about a
point of grammar or about a poet or story writer’s purpose, would wrap matters
up with a single clarifying sentence, the kind of sentence that makes other
students utter “Oh, I see.” (All teachers need that kind of help occasionally.)
His
joy of being a Supreme Court Justice? “”It’s enjoying the role of making
decisions that shaped Georgia’s legal landscape rather than being an attorney
who argued and pleaded for the judges to decide in my favor.” Melton’s father
was the first person to suggest he consider law school. Melton did so after
obtaining a degree from Auburn University in International Business. Melton
says, “Deciding cases is a weighty process. On the Supreme Court, being the
final arbiter of the law adds additional pressure to the quest to be right and
clear.”
The
effects of teaching are often mysterious. Did you help anyone or not? But
students’ effects on teachers are just as mysterious. Most students probably
will never know what effect they had on their teachers. These two men brought
delight and inspiration to their teachers. I judge them worthy to judge.
Yes,
what most drives teachers from teaching is students, and what most keeps
teachers in teaching is students as well.
Roger Hines
10/28/21
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