Great Educators of the Twentieth Century, Episode 57: Mr. Jackson
It was in my junior year of high school that I had the remarkable good fortune to be enrolled in a World Cultures class taught by the illustrious Mr. Jackson. Mr. Jackson was a veritable fountain of little-known facts, and nary a day passed that I did not come away from his classroom having gleaned some new, never-imagined bit of understanding of the world outside my limited life experience. The following items are just a few pearls of wisdom imparted by this fine educator:
All Chinese children, without exception, get married at the age of nine.
Jesus, Moses, and Abraham Lincoln were black.
India is nowhere near the Indian Ocean.
One of the greatest regrets of my academic career is not submitting myself to his tutelage sooner, for his students the previous year had had the great privilege of watching a marvelous documentary about the life of early humans in prehistoric times, Caveman, narrated by Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach in the original Sanskrit.
Granted, like all great men Mr. Jackson was not without his imperfections. Frequently his musings on the social sciences were so advanced that he would test us on material we were not actually scheduled to study for several more weeks. However, one mark of a great man is his willingness to acknowledge his own weaknesses and to attempt to compensate for them. To this end Mr. Jackson happily provided answers to test questions that were beyond the scope of any student's knowledge. All the student had to do was walk up to his desk during the test and request the assistance of his superior knowledge. Often as not he would even count the answers he provided as correct when grading our tests.
Sadly, Mr. Jackson is no longer improving the impressionable young minds of my hometown. The administration of my high school, though oblivious to the genius among them for many years, eventually recognized his brilliance. History shows us that lesser minds often grow envious of greater intellects and subject those greater minds to cruel persecution, and so it was in this case. Mr. Jackson was forced to "retire" at the end of the school term I was blessed to spend with him. When I think of those after me who have been deprived of the life-altering experience of his wisdom, my heart can only cry.
All Chinese children, without exception, get married at the age of nine.
Jesus, Moses, and Abraham Lincoln were black.
India is nowhere near the Indian Ocean.
One of the greatest regrets of my academic career is not submitting myself to his tutelage sooner, for his students the previous year had had the great privilege of watching a marvelous documentary about the life of early humans in prehistoric times, Caveman, narrated by Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach in the original Sanskrit.
Granted, like all great men Mr. Jackson was not without his imperfections. Frequently his musings on the social sciences were so advanced that he would test us on material we were not actually scheduled to study for several more weeks. However, one mark of a great man is his willingness to acknowledge his own weaknesses and to attempt to compensate for them. To this end Mr. Jackson happily provided answers to test questions that were beyond the scope of any student's knowledge. All the student had to do was walk up to his desk during the test and request the assistance of his superior knowledge. Often as not he would even count the answers he provided as correct when grading our tests.
Sadly, Mr. Jackson is no longer improving the impressionable young minds of my hometown. The administration of my high school, though oblivious to the genius among them for many years, eventually recognized his brilliance. History shows us that lesser minds often grow envious of greater intellects and subject those greater minds to cruel persecution, and so it was in this case. Mr. Jackson was forced to "retire" at the end of the school term I was blessed to spend with him. When I think of those after me who have been deprived of the life-altering experience of his wisdom, my heart can only cry.