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The Transform your Teaching podcast is a service of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. Join Dr. Rob McDole and Dr. Jared Pyles as they seek to inspire higher education faculty to adopt innovative teaching and learning practices.
This is the Transform Your Teaching Podcast. The Transform Your Teaching Podcast is a service of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. Welcome to
Jared:the Transform Your Teaching podcast. My name is Dr. Jared Pyles, and with me is Dr. Rob McDole. Hello. Rob, we have a very special episode here in that the guest of the episode does not know that they're a guest. Yeah.
Jared:So a member of our podcast team is retiring and we have something very special to share with him. So mister L, from the other side of the glass, hopefully, this was a surprise. I we we need you to come over here and, join us here in the
Rob:Come on. This is gonna be very bittersweet, I feel.
Jared:We wanted to surprise you because you're you're someone that was be like, nah. I don't wanna do that stuff because I know you, so we wanna surprise you with this. We wanted to thank you on the podcast for the two years that you spent helping us, getting this podcast off the ground. My privilege. It was your guidance, your advice that helped us get off the ground.
Jared:I very appreciative of that. And you also put up with all of our
Jared:Nonsense. What really was remarkable to me is that over those last two years, you would remark, and this is with all humility, that you were still learning about teaching from us because you wanted to serve your students best. And that's always been like the main pillar of this podcast is servant teaching. And it just shows that you are a student all the way through and you always want to learn. So what I did was I reached out to the contacts I have, and then they reached out to other contacts.
Jared:So I have some students here who have recorded some audio Oh my goodness. For you to listen to. Now.
Mr. L:I didn't even bring a handkerchief.
Jared:It's okay. It won't be just we'll do them every now and then. Won't be all throughout. And we also brought Doctor. Baker in because Doctor.
Jared:Baker, know is a mentor of yours, a close friend. Absolutely.
Jared:one of those people that went from educator to colleague to friend, just like you and I have, which is weird, which is great,
Mr. L:but weird. Inspirational teaching inspirational teaching that changed the course of my life.
Jared:Yeah. But I wonder if you if you had any, Doctor. Baker, personal anecdotes or things you would like to share?
Wes Baker:Golly, where do you start? Start at the beginning, I guess. I mean, it was evident from the very beginning. When I came, he was a broadcasting major. And so I stepped in midway through his college years.
Mr. L:Actually, I had never taken a broadcasting class. I was undeclared my freshman year. You came at the Guddinghaus sophomore year as God led me into the program. So, truly, you taught me everything I knew.
Jared:Well, there
Rob:you go. Wow. It was
Wes Baker:evident that here was somebody special. He was an excellent student and a great person. So we hit it off a lot from the very beginning. I mean even when you have that student teacher distance that's necessary, still there was a bond there. And then he graduated and went off, and we were looking for eventually someone to come back to help me set up some things to help with a student radio station.
Wes Baker:And he had done a senior project on starting a student radio station. And I talked to Doctor. Phipps, the chair of the department, and I said, you know, Tim Leitenheimer would be a great person to bring back, but he was working at a radio station at the time. Well, it was shortly after that that then he called me to say that he was thinking about shifting to another position. And I said, well, have I got a deal for you?
Wes Baker:And I I have often said the best thing I ever did at Cedarville was bring Jim Leithnein
Jared:back. That's a very encouraging thing to say.
Wes Baker:Because he made the program.
Mr. L:No. We had a good team. But my perspective on that is I called you because I was looking at changing jobs. I was applying for a job in Saint Louis, and I called to refresh, you know, refresh your permission to use you as a reference. You're like, funny.
Mr. L:You should call today of all days. God's hand at work.
Wes Baker:Yes. Right. For sure.
Jared:Yeah. Well, let's listen to this is a 2014 graduate. And so here we
Former Student 1:class of 2014. I still don't know why, but you saw something in me and showed me what was possible when I was just a freshman in college. And I have a feeling you might not like getting this much credit, but I have no doubt in my mind that I would not be where I am in my career today had it not been for you inspiring me, teaching me, and connecting me to the media world. I'm just building on what you started, and it's an honor. Thank you so much.
Former Student 1:Thank you for simply being such a good man and being faithful to God. It truly makes all the difference.
Jared:There's that one. I don't know how to respond.
Mr. L:I don't
Jared:if you have any others
Rob:You're not gonna get him to respond. He's gonna need a hanky.
Jared:Alright. Here's another one.
Former Student 2:Hey, mister L. It's Beth Neiman, class of 02/2003, or as some may remember me, Farley Farley Farley. I needed to take a minute to express my immense gratitude to you. Your unwavering support during college meant the absolute world to me in a time when I didn't actually realize how much I needed it. I recently found some old class notes and your feedback was that I was doing great, but that I needed to be more conversational.
Former Student 2:Well, I haven't stopped yapping since much to some folks chagrin, and that is all thanks to you. I'm so thankful for your guidance, your kindness for chilly day, and the way you always saw us as more than just students. You truly made a difference in my life and I'll never forget it. Congratulations on your retirement. You've more than earned it.
Jared:Farley and I went way back. We were here together as remember Beth
Wes Baker:Yeah. As well.
Jared:Yeah. Now Neiman. I ran into her at a concert and it was like we never, I hadn't seen her since she graduated and it's like we never, you know. That's great. It was great.
Jared:Yeah. Here's another one for you. This one I had to edit down. This one sent two minutes worth and I had to edit it down because they work at Focus on the Family. And so they gave me, like Doctor.
Jared:Dobson, that woman used to do our first audio edit, he sent several takes, so I had to edit them down. Anyway, here's this one. This is from 2014.
Former Student 3:Hey, Mr. L. This is Tim Hall, class of 2014. Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication to the broadcasting and digital media program at Cedarville. You've impacted my life through your teaching and various opportunities over the years that led me to starting my own podcast production business.
Former Student 3:It all started with learning about microphones and how to edit audio that helped me reach my goal of interning with the audio drama team at Focus on the Family, which then got me into podcasting. Your fingerprints are all over my career journey and I'm forever grateful. Doctor. Baker had
Jared:an immediate reaction to that because he said impacted.
Wes Baker:Other than that,
Jared:I think it's very nice.
Mr. L:Very nice.
Jared:Here's another one. This one is another This is an 'three grad.
Former Student 4:Hey, Mr. L. This is Paul Kralberg, class of 02/2003. Just wanna say a big congratulations on your retirement. You were one of my favorite professors at Cedarville.
Former Student 4:I learned a lot from you, and I appreciate all that you did to pour into my life and the lives of countless others. So may God continue to bless you and your family as you ride off into that beautiful sunset.
Jared:Remarkable, the audio quality from all these audio
Mr. L:students. You know?
Rob:No. It's almost like they're auditioning for something. Is that is that right?
Jared:It seems like it. Yeah. Another one? This one's this one's all the way from LA. This is 2,000, I'm sure you can recognize.
Jared:You would you know who this was if I 2,000? Probably. Alright.
Former Student 5:Hello, mister L. I'm Michael Corbel, class of February. When I look back at the trinity of undergrad professors that shaped me into who I am today, I always remember you as the calm voice of guidance, never wavering, waiting patiently as I began to learn the life lessons around me. You were the stable anchor. I remember so fondly our transition from WSRN to u ninety nine point five FM and converting all the CDs to m p threes so we could begin digital automation.
Former Student 5:Mhmm. I didn't truly understand how much I learned about leadership until years later. You guided myself and all the department heads in such a thoughtful way. I still smile when I think about the boot camps before school began, and I still hear you in my head even now today, twenty five years later, as a commercial director on a film set. From the top of Collins Hall to wherever and whatever you decide to do with all this newfound time, much love to you and your family, and very best wishes for your retirement.
Jared:Thanks, Mike. Now this one is someone very familiar to us all, a 2020 grad.
Former Student 6:Hi, mister L. This is Jacob Lashway from the class of 2020. Thank you so much for your dedication to Cedarville and for being a teacher, mentor, and friend to me. I love how you make yourself available to your students. I remember my first class with you and I was having some kind of issue in one of the studios.
Former Student 6:You always said we could call you anytime for assistance, so I did, and you walked me through that particular issue so well. I remember you even offered to come to campus to help me if need be, and this was in the evening when I made that call. I never forgot that servant hearted attitude, and I'm striving to demonstrate that same kind of care to people in my life. I know that servant hearted nature comes from your love for God and love for others. You've modeled your faith so well to me and countless other students.
Former Student 6:Have fun in retirement, and I know God has some awesome plans for you as you enter into that new face of life. Nice.
Mr. L:Jacob, Jake.
Jared:Yeah. Good old Jacob. Here's another. This is an o three. Boost this gain here a bit so it sounds better on the air.
Wes Baker:Here we go.
Former Student 7:Hey, mister L. This is Randy Lewis, class of 02/2003. I met you the first time I visited campus as a prospective student. And after sitting through one of your classes, you stuck around talking to me about my desires and my goals, it and was through that conversation I decided to attend Cedarville. While I enjoyed sitting under you in classrooms and at u ninety nine point five, what I've grown to appreciate the most was the years we spent working together at CDR Radio and running sound at a local church.
Former Student 7:It was through those experiences I got to see that you were the same man in every area of life. You were a man of integrity who loved God and loved others. Congratulations on your retirement, and may God continue to use the work you've done over these decades to further his kingdom.
Jared:Good old Randy
Mr. L:Haven't seen him for a while. Yeah.
Jared:Yeah. Helped me move. He had a a moving company. Yeah. Good guy.
Jared:There and Back Again is what it was called, which is a great name, And he helped me move to my current house. Just out of nowhere, decided.
Rob:So that was after your stint in carrying mattresses?
Jared:Yes. That was post carrying mattresses.
Wes Baker:Okay. Part of my life.
Jared:Let's move on. 02/2005.
Former Student 8:Hey, mister L. This is Liz McClurkin, formerly Lemel of the class of 02/2005. And I wanted to just give you a major thank you for being who you are. Who you are is a man after God's own heart. Truly a man with one of the greatest servant hearts I have ever met in my life.
Former Student 8:You were constantly serving us as students, not just on the student level,
Rob:but also
Former Student 8:personally guiding us in whatever directions that the Lord had for us. I have so many great memories being with you and with you ninety nine point five. I love being in your class. I loved being a part of the radio station. And even more, I love being a colleague of yours outside of graduation now where I can still stay in contact with you and missus L, and it's been just a pleasure to be in your life and have you in mine.
Former Student 8:Congratulations on your retirement, and again, thank you so much for all you've done. I can't wait to see how God uses you in your family and anywhere you are.
Mr. L:Thanks, Liz.
Jared:K. Five more. You doing alright?
Mr. L:Yeah. Okay. This is wonderful.
Wes Baker:Alright. Well
Rob:Not painful at all.
Jared:This Good. Is this is someone I have fond memories of as well. This is an o two grad.
Former Student 9:Hi, mister L. I'm Steve Shore Olson, class of 02/2002, and, sincerely, I don't think I'd be the person I am today without the influence you've had in my life. And I'm not just talking about the radio training I received, which was excellent and helped me live my radio dreams for the last twenty some years. I mean, even who I am as a person, the way you role modeled servant leadership to me as a student, and the ways you continue to be kind and gracious in my life sense. I aspire to be the kind of man, husband, and father that you've emulated throughout the years.
Former Student 9:Thank you for being you and for being a part of my life. I'm forever grateful.
Jared:Steve Shore can be heard every weeknight. No. I'm kidding. Is he on air anymore? Do you know?
Mr. L:No. He just shapes music. I tell you what? Platforms. Honestly, his
Jared:his his work at K Love is incredible. Like, the playlists and the the radio stations that he has created phenomenal.
Rob:Well, that blows my mind to think your student.
Mr. L:Our student.
Rob:Your students.
Mr. L:It was a team. It was a team. Is
Rob:is affecting people all over the world. Mhmm. Our students. Yes. You're talking about millions of people.
Mr. L:Yes. God is using our students in a wonderful way. He does great things.
Rob:Yeah.
Jared:02/2004.
Former Student 10:Hi, mister L. This is Mark Orlowski from class of 02/2004. I just wanna take a brief moment to let you know how much I truly appreciate you and say thank you for everything that you taught me and instilled in me during my time at Cedarville. And I want you to know that you truly exemplified the heart of Christ in every class that I had with you and every interaction that we had, and I I cannot thank you enough for that. You taught me to do everything with passion and excellence, and I've carried that with me in every band that I performed in, every worship team or church that I've served at, and every organization that I've worked for.
Former Student 10:And if there was only one thing, one practical skill that I can say I have truly taken to heart and brought with me all these years later is that I still, to this day, teach people how to properly wrap cables. And, I just I I cannot thank you enough for everything, and I'm truly, truly blessed to have known you. And I hope that you have the most amazing retirement, with some much earned downtime out of the classroom. I love you, and I hope only the best for you. God bless.
Former Student 10:Take care.
Mr. L:Thanks, Mark. I I felt that cord wrapping thing coming out. Did you? I felt like it was moving that direction.
Jared:The final exam for
Rob:our first audio. It was a very important lesson that he needed to learn.
Mr. L:You don't take care of your cables.
Jared:They're they're expensive. You know?
Mr. L:Well, problems happen Yeah. At the worst times.
Jared:To replace them. Yeah. They short out. That was our final exam in the first audio classes.
Rob:That was good.
Wes Baker:Part of it.
Mr. L:I think that was one element.
Jared:That was a stressful course because it's the first time you actually edit audio. So it's terrifying. It's weird. You have to get stuff, you know, correct. And your part of your final exam was the mic audio wrapping.
Jared:The other one was you going, Merry Christmas. This is your final for the so we had to just edit in real time, edit out that cough. And it was Yeah.
Mr. L:You had to get it you only had, like, five minutes to
Jared:Yeah. Because it was, like, during a radio break. You had, like, two songs you had think it was great. Then we had to wrap them on cable. Alright.
Jared:Three more. This is someone you should know as well. I mean, you should know all these, but you should this one is just down the hall from where it used to be. 2006.
Former Student 11:Hey, mister L. This is Jeff Simon, class of 02/2006. I have had the privilege of benefiting from your wisdom, guidance, kindness, and mentorship as a student, a professional, and as a colleague at Cedarville University. I just wanna thank you so much for your servant's heart, for your wisdom, and all of the practical elements that you taught me about audio were great, even though that wasn't my full time field. But the influence of your character has lasted with me these past multiple decades.
Former Student 11:I am so thankful to have had you in my life and am excited, though saddened, that you have entered into retirement. And I am glad that you get to enjoy that with Beth, but I will greatly miss you as an active colleague at Cedarville.
Jared:You're still gonna be in Cedarville though. Right? So Jeff can literally just go down the street and see if he needs to.
Mr. L:Oh, we'll see you.
Jared:We're close. That's close enough. I don't I don't mean to diminish what Jeff just said. Alright. This is 1994.
Rob:Oh, that was my freshman year.
Jared:Oh, this was this person's senior year.
Former Student 12:Hey, mister L. This is Todd Stack Uh-huh. From the class of 1994. When I think about you and your career, a few words come to mind. Legacy, patience, encouragement.
Former Student 12:I think of all of us who've graduated from Cedarville University, who have gone out into the workplace and have touched the lives of listeners all across America and around the world, and that's because of you. Thank you for helping light the passion of Christian radio in my life, for giving me courage to go after the internship that I wanted. And throughout my career, being someone who prayed for me in the hard times, encouraged me, and always cheered me on. Your legacy lives on in each of us. So as you step away from a brilliant career, be reminded that God used you in tremendous ways.
Former Student 12:I love you, my friend.
Wes Baker:Nice.
Jared:Good old Todd Stack. Another heavy hitter in the Christian radio world.
Rob:Oh, what's he doing?
Jared:Everything. He's done everything. Where's he? Is he at the river now, is
Mr. L:he No. He has a consulting agency, six fifteen, and he coaches radio shows, networks all around the country.
Jared:I don't wanna put you your feet to the fire for at this point, but I think you could probably name the vast majority of what your students are doing right now. This is radio, so you have to
Wes Baker:It's not not even I'm
Mr. L:just processing. Probably. Probably so. Yes.
Jared:Okay. Alright. One more. I think this is a good way of ending it.
Former Student 13:Hey, mister L. This is Mark Weaver, class of 02/2003. Well, looking back to college, it was, the first time I was really on my own. I just felt like I had unlimited opportunities. Great school, great social atmosphere, but with those unlimited opportunities, it just felt like I had so many decisions, especially that first year at college.
Former Student 13:So many decisions and it was overwhelming. Even in the college classroom, so many disciplines and so many professors create such a formality and such an intimidating atmosphere. But what I appreciated about your classes was you developed such an atmosphere where I felt like I could develop without pressure to become a pro right away. You know, I could experiment in my craft. I could learn what worked, what didn't work.
Former Student 13:I could develop my talents on my own or I could collaborate with others, even those who weren't part of the audio production program. And that atmosphere of freedom and calmness you created just it meant the world to me. I felt like I could thrive. Your calm demeanor brought a sense of calmness to me and that was invaluable and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I think the development that I've had throughout college and since college in my professional life.
Former Student 13:I owe so much of that to you. Thank you. And best wishes to you on a well deserved retirement from teaching.
Jared:There you go. What are your thoughts, mister L? You have the
Rob:floor. Well,
Mr. L:to god be the glory. If any good things, have come from my forty three years here, most of it obviously attributable to, to what God has done. I don't have anything that he didn't give me. I wasn't able to do anything that he didn't enable me to do. And, I had good teachers, and I had good colleagues.
Mr. L:God put a good team together, and he sends us good students. You know, I've always said that. Our job he sends us good people. Our job is to help them move along down the road and not mess them up. Connect them with people who are better than us that can help them take the next step in her industry and, and continue to mentor them.
Mr. L:You know? And that it's not just, okay. It's graduation. Our job is done. You know?
Mr. L:Yeah. God enabled us to have relationships with people that carry on. Mhmm. And, you know, we can we can be there for weddings. We can be there when they have an issue.
Mr. L:And I think that's a great blessing in an environment like Cedarville that you probably don't have in every educational institution, but you have to you know, I think this is how god wired me, you know, in a department with a Wes Baker. You know, it took me a while to figure out I could never be Wes Baker because I mean, could never
Wes Baker:be Jim Lehrer. There's only one Wes Baker.
Rob:Well, true all
Wes Baker:of us.
Mr. L:God has gifted Wesley, a tremendous intellect Yeah. And vision. And I found my place. I I jokingly refer to myself as I was when it was the team of two, I was the den mother. You know?
Mr. L:Like, I'm a scout troop. Wes was the the brain, and I was I was maybe the heart. Uh-huh. But just to be able to build relationships and to help students, you know, to see the light bulb come on, to point them in different directions, I think God blessed me with with insight to be able to see what their giftings were even maybe when they didn't see them. And it's probably the same for you, Wes.
Mr. L:You could see. They they came in wanting to do this thing, and you're like, well Mhmm. You could do that, and you'd you'd do pretty well. But Yeah. Maybe, and just maybe, I'm not telling you God's will for your life, but maybe you should think and pray about this area because you have real giftings and real potential there.
Mr. L:And, just a blessing to hear from these people. Again, just to have had the opportunity to to walk with these people as they come in as students, to walk with them afterwards, and, to have them remember kindly. At least these folks. You found some who do. Right.
Jared:Yeah. Some people didn't respond.
Mr. L:Remember kindly what, what God did here. Yeah. And, just a blessing to see what God's doing in their lives, and, that's tremendous payoff. And again, I give God all the glory for all of it.
Wes Baker:I appreciated hearing the consistent themes that came up. So servant leadership was mentioned so many times, and man of integrity, somebody who cared. You know, that's really who Jim is.
Rob:Yeah. Agreed. Well, and we've seen that in our podcast.
Mr. L:Yeah.
Rob:I mean, you said it when we started. And, miss Rell, you've you have shown that to us. You have made us wanna be better. It's something that, you know, you don't even it's not your lane, but because of being faithful in yours, you've pushed us to be better than ours. And and to me, it reflects Ephesians four.
Rob:Is it each one with their gifting, doing their work, building up the body. And I know that's what you think about. You think it's not just a university. You know you have an eternal purpose when you come here. And we all feel that and we take it seriously.
Rob:And I think that's why servant teaching came out so much for us
Mr. L:as well.
Rob:Yep. Just exemplified that. Yeah. And and you tell the truth, and that's one of the things that Paul says. Right?
Rob:One of the first things he tells us in Ephesians four that we should be doing is speaking the truth in love, each one to his neighbor. And you did that. You've done that. You've encouraged when we've needed encouragement, but you've also given us the feedback we need to do better. And I pray that it benefits others, and I pray that what we do can walk in that same vein, that same track, and follow after our savior in the same way.
Rob:So thank you.
Mr. L:My privilege. And, like Jared was saying at the beginning, I I wish that there'd been a program like this forty three years ago when I was starting out as teaching. You know? We know our subject matter, but we were never really I was never taught to be I never had a teaching class, an education class. Didn't know.
Mr. L:Yep. So I'm just very much committed to the mission of this podcast and what you're trying to accomplish, dealing with things that that help to educate faculty and prepare them to do the job of being a faculty member much better. Mhmm. So I was on board. This is the little bit I could do.
Mr. L:Yeah. And I was glad to do it.
Jared:Oh, we we appreciate it. You know my feelings about you. I'm not gonna I've said it many times on this podcast. I'll just say thank you again for your leadership and your mentorship, throughout these years. So that's gonna do it for us on the Transform Your Teaching podcast.
Jared:Be sure to like and subscribe and find us on your favorite, podcast platform and, follow us on LinkedIn and check out our blog at cedarville.edu/focusblog. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at CTLPodcastCedarville dot edu. Thanks for listening.