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Ohio's public schools serve 1.6 million children - 90 percent of students in the state! What happens in the classroom has impacts far beyond the walls of the K-12 school building or higher ed lecture hall. So, on behalf of the 120,000 members of the Ohio Education Association, we're taking a deeper dive into some of the many education issues facing our students, educators, and communities. Originally launched in 2021 as Education Matters, Public Education Matters is your source for insightful conversations with the people who shape the education landscape in Ohio. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on Public Education Matters? Email us at educationmatters@ohea.org
Various student voices 0:08
Public education matters. Public education matters. Public education matters.
Jeff Wensing 0:15
This is Public Education Matters brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.
Katie Olmsted 0:26
Welcome back to Public Education Matters. I'm your host, Katie Olmsted, and I'm part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association and the nearly 120,000 public school educators OEA represents around the state. We know careers in public education are often a family thing. A lot of educators enter the profession following in the footsteps of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and others. And honestly, it's not all that uncommon for educators to end up married to other educators too, two people who share a love for serving students. Not that surprising when they turn out to be a good match for each other, but few educator couples share a love story, as long as the guests on this episode. Between the two of them retired New Philadelphia teachers Bill and Cheryl Graham spent 112 years teaching in public schools. Cheryl, who began teaching in 1969 spent five years as a band and choir director at Ridgewood High School in West Lafayette. 28 years as a high school band director at New Philadelphia, two years at New Philadelphia's Welty Middle School, and 21 years as an elementary music teacher in that district. Bill taught math at Riverview High School for seven years, taught math and science at New Phillies Welty Middle School for 28 years, and then concluded his career with 20 years as E Learning Coordinator at Sandy Valley local schools. And after 56 years in the teaching profession for each of them, both continued to work with students in their retirement. My colleague Julie Newhall sat down with the pair a few months ago to ask about what kept them going through more than five decades in the classroom, how personal tragedy actually deepened their commitment to education and why they continue to serve students now you can read Julie's story about Bill and Cheryl Graham in the October, November issue of OEA's Ohio Schools magazine. But as we celebrate Valentine's Day this week, I wanted to share more of their conversation with you, too. Again, here's my colleague and Ohio schools editor extraordinaire, Julie Newhall, talking with Cheryl and Bill Graham, who share a lifelong love for teaching for high school marching band programs, and, of course, for each other. Take a listen.
Bill Graham 2:53
Cheryl and I have been a team absolutely all along. She was teaching at Ridgewood. I was coaching football at Riverview, and I decided that I could write the drill for her marching band. Then I started working with her color guard. And so there's many good pairs in Ohio schools where it's husband and wife team. I think we're one of the few that she was a band director and I was the color guard instructor, and so I created our Winter Guard kaleidoscope, and my daughter's senior year in high school, 2000 we came in third in the nation in our class. And that just just unbelievable for us.
Cheryl Graham 3:55
But I think the thing I need to say is the fact that at the Riverview Ridgewood football game the first one that I was the band director, and of course, you were in high heels and short dresses, you know, in this whole thing, I dropped all my stuff on the the goal line, and this coach came over and picked everything up for me. And he was the best friend of the high school band director at Riverview. And it was the Riverview band director that got him to call me finally to ask me out for a date.
Bill Graham 4:24
Well, Cheryl did our student teaching at Riverview, yeah, so that's where we met each other, yeah, that's where this all started.
Julie Newhall 4:36
Like a good thing, you were both there at that time. Yeah? Yes. That's great. That's great. What encouraged each of you to keep teaching far longer than most of your peers, not just in Ohio, but anywhere would would be teaching?
Bill Graham 4:57
I think that's how we classify ourselves as teachers. You know, that's what we do. So we didn't see any reason to quit, because we loved it.
Cheryl Graham 5:13
Absolutely. And the fact that, you know, every day, and especially in music, in this day and age, it's not the most important part of the curriculum, and I always felt that if I wasn't there to keep it going, that it wouldn't be there for all the students that need it. And we know that our students need all kinds of things, and that music is extremely important for the way you get through life.
Bill Graham 5:40
Now, my last 20 years, I was a E Learning Coordinator at Sandy Valley, and I had a lab where students came in to work, and most of my students were there for credit recovery, for courses that they have had failed to pass and so without constant prodding and encouragement and so forth, many of them wouldn't have graduated, but we had a wonderful graduation rate, so I didn't want to see that drop. So I kept teaching.
Cheryl Graham 6:23
Well, and you know, he was talking about when I went to elementary school. Then in all three of my schools that I taught at, I had to be the door opener in the morning, okay, and so I did make them all smile, and most of them gave me a hug or told me something about their day or whatever, showed me something as they came in. So that was so that was really nice that I got to see every one of the children in all the buildings when I was there.
Julie Newhall 6:49
Although you've both retired now, your work is not done by any means, and you were possibly staying busier than ever helping others and continuing to teach. Could you tell us a little bit about what you're doing since your retirements?
Cheryl Graham 7:08
Well, part of it, I still continue to teach students after school, when they come to our house for lessons that they can get to be better put because there's not a lot of teachers, private teachers in our area, and if they just call me, and most of them are kids, of my kids, so that they know me real well, and they know to just come in the back door and go into the family room and let's have a lesson. But you know, that's really, really been a blessing. And then I get the opportunity to share conducting with Brian Botdorf and April Linard, with our community band in the summertime. And then in the winter time, I go, I'm going to, I go up to Canton to their community band for the winter and take a couple of people up with us. And then I get to judge for OMEA. So I get to go all over the place to judge marching bands and concert bands and sold ensemble. So that's what I'm doing.
Julie Newhall 8:06
That's a lot. That's a lot.
Bill Graham 8:10
And then I created Papa Red Learning, which I'm Papa Red. My grandkids other grandfather had a blue truck, so he was Papa Blue. I had a red truck, so I'm Papa Red. So I go into elementaries and do science experiments for them. And then the only thing I want them is, if they can to bring in pop tabs, then I take those up and get recycled, give the money to Ronald McDonald House for this, because our son, he passed, he passed on his right, beginning of his senior year, he had cystic fibrosis and had a double lung transplant, and the they messed up, and they had to go in again, and eventually we had to take him off of life support. So we had spent lots of days at Ronald McDonald House, and know what a wonderful charity that is. And that's probably another he want. He wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. Yes. He was going to be a kindergarten teacher, and he would have been wonderful. And I think that's another reason that we've kept teaching is to carry on what he would have done.
Cheryl Graham 9:47
Plus, he was somebody who didn't let anything get in his way. He sang beautifully. If he had to cough in between, it was okay, you know. He played sports. He played his french horn. He did all kinds of things. Yes, and never let anything get his way. If he had to stop for a little bit, that was okay, but, you know, and so he was just quite an inspiration to all of us, and his to his his kindergarten teacher was an elementary principal when he was a junior, and so they got as as teaching as I forget what it's called, but anyway, before Future Teachers Association, you got to go to a classroom. Well, you're supposed to just go and and help. Well, she turned off over the whole class to him, and so it was just one of the Jackie's report was just absolutely fabulous and and let him teach, and that meant he was going to be a kindergarten teacher, there was no question about it.
Julie Newhall 10:44
I think it seems pretty clear that you were an inspiration to him and to your daughter. We tried to be anyway. I think so. I think so. Thank you for sharing that.
Cheryl Graham 10:55
Oh, you're welcome.
Julie Newhall 10:57
Something I like to ask educators is, what is the most important lesson you believe you taught your students?
Cheryl Graham 11:07
I think honesty and doing the very best they can do, and looking out for other people, those are the things that I wanted my students to to be aware of and to make a difference in everybody's day, a positive difference.
Bill Graham 11:24
Yeah, being positive and being very flexible, you have to be a good teacher. You have to be resilient, because there's going to be things that just don't go your way. So you have to have figure out a work around for that, but that's what I hope I taught my students and too.
Julie Newhall 11:47
And on the reverse side, what is the most important lesson your students taught you?
Bill Graham 11:53
Students need somebody to talk to. They just need to know that they are important. They need to see a smile. I know Cheryl, when she was greeting elementary students as they came in the door, she'd make them smile at her okay, because they might not get any smiles at home.
Cheryl Graham 12:17
Yeah, I think the hardest thing for students, like for us, was students that would come to me and say, especially when I was teaching elementary that, you know, I said, "How'd you get along last night? Well, I didn't have a place to sleep, or I didn't have a bed, or we didn't have breakfast this morning". Or now we have breakfast every day at our schools, but you know, things like that that just you had to give them a great big hug and come we're going to have a better day today. And this is the good things that are going to happen. You know, anything to make their day better because some other people don't care.
Julie Newhall 12:54
And I think, I think we're seeing that more and more, so much trauma coming to school with the students, and such a great need for educators to take that on. Even though it might not be your job, it becomes your job.
Cheryl Graham 13:11
Absolutely they have to be. Have a positive feeling
Julie Newhall 13:17
If you look back on your very long, very important careers. What's a highlight for you? What stands out as one of the defining moments for you of your teaching career?
Cheryl Graham 13:33
I have so many that I can't even think of one, just one particular but being invited to go to the Bicentennial Parade, being the only high school band to go to Philadelphia was phenomenal. And the things that happened there that the kids got to participate in once in a lifetime, you know, was just unbelievable. And getting a chance to go to the state convention and perform with our our wind ensemble, you know, they thought, you know, my kids really, really enjoyed that. And we were able to bring back some guest composers and some people that we really cared about my kids needed to know about, you know, and just all the different things that have happened, marching band wise, national championships in our class, and things like that, you know you just but they're not as important as seeing the students come back and give us a greeting and the fact that they cared about what happened. That's the most important thing.
Julie Newhall 14:30
Just talk a little bit about how your upbringing and education led you to careers in education.
Cheryl Graham 14:39
Well, mine was because my dad was a teacher from the day I can remember. And we lived in Pennsylvania at the time, and in that time in a little small town, if you were a teacher in their school district, you did everything. He was in charge of agriculture. He was in charge of, you name it, and making things and then also he had to be a bus driver. And so when I was little, I used to get to ride the bus and through all the snow and everything with him in the mornings. So that was what I remember, is him being a phenomenal teacher as far as that part. Then when we moved to Ohio, we were lucky to go to the largest school district at that time was for Parma School District, and he became a physics teacher there, and my stepmother was a school nurse. And it was one of those things where, you know, he just, he enjoyed it. He taught summer school. He taught me to go to summer school because that way I could be in band, orchestra and choir. I couldn't have done all three of them. So I had this. I took history in summer school, and so he just, he would come home with all the stories and with all and he'd do all his work that he needed to do, and he showed me what had to happen to be a good teacher.
Julie Newhall 15:56
And how about you, Bill?
Bill Graham 15:58
Well, my mom was a teacher. Fact, I had her as a math teacher, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th grade, and at that time, you could have never convinced me that I'd end up being a teacher. Okay, I didn't want to have anything to do it. So I graduated from Capital University with a biology major. Didn't know what I was going to do at that time as Vietnam War, so I was going to go into the Air Force. And then I had a physical thing happen that I couldn't I said, "What am I going to do?" And my roommate in college, his dad, was on the school board in Coshocton County, and at that time, to be a math teacher, all you had to be was a warm body. So I could have had a math job at Ridgewood or Riverview. He told me go to Riverview. So I did. And so I started teaching without any educational careers. But I had my mom. I had my mom to rely on. Well, how would she have taught this okay and and so that's what I have started, ended up being a math teacher.
Julie Newhall 17:27
Those are great stories. I think often when we talk to OEA members around the state for our stories, many of you have had parents or grandparents or aunts and uncles who are educators as well. My mom was was a career elementary school art teacher. And my colleague, Katie, who does the podcast, her mom was a career teacher as well. So I think it it definitely sparks an interest in education, and it helps to get a younger generation involved, which is great.
Bill Graham 18:04
Yeah, so, so my sister, she was a teacher, an elementary teacher, okay? And then her daughter was a teacher, and then her son in law was a teacher. Our daughter is a teacher second grade and in Cherry Valley, and that's one place where I've been going to do science then with them.
Julie Newhall 18:32
She probably really appreciates that, and I bet her students do too.
Bill Graham 18:36
Oh my gosh, yes.
Julie Newhall 18:38
That's great. As you continue your work with students and schools and in music and science in the community, what is a message that you would like to share with people who are just starting their careers in education at a time when public education especially, is being attacked on a lot of fronts, and they may not see a career that's 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, because things are so challenging right now. What would you say to them to give them some encouragement and inspiration to keep at it and to see the good in what they're doing and the importance of what they're doing.
Bill Graham 19:33
I think one thing is important is that they keep themselves away from maybe others in the profession that aren't positive, because you can, you can get dragged down in a hurry. Why by people with the the improper attitude and so they have to, you know, go in positively.
Cheryl Graham 20:05
And they also need to know that they might be the only super thing that happens to those children every day. And they have to realize that even if they're having a bad day, they can't have a bad day in front of their kids, because, you know, they've got and they and they've got to be aware of, you know, visually, being aware of things. If they see a child that looks like maybe they're having a problem, to be able to go and take care of that in order to help take care of it, you know, to keep their eyes open 24/7, all the way around, you know, with every child. And that makes all the difference in the world, right there.
Julie Newhall 20:41
Were there things when you were teaching and had a difficult day, were there things that made a difference for you?
Cheryl Graham 20:50
Well, for one, it was the fact that that our son set the example for everybody, I mean, and the boys, the boys and girls in his class, his that class were so positive, and they would do anything for anybody. And so you know that in itself, you know if I felt like I was having a bad day, I'd look at what he had to go through that morning with the the treatments that I had to give him, and the and the the physical beating that we had to do every morning on his lungs, you know, and all the medicine he had to take and that he had to do that in front of people, and it didn't bother him, and it didn't bother any of the people around him because of his attitude. And so, you know, like his friends that have, they have graduated that, of course, we were still good friends with, you know, they said, you know, he was one of their inspirations for them to do what they're doing now. And so that was great.
Bill Graham 21:49
One of the hardest things we had to do was after he passed on. It was during the middle of football game, of summer, of fall practices. Oh, right, okay. And so we'd been absent from the band for a week, several weeks, and so we had wonderful staff that was carrying on. But we came back to the where we practice, and they had all the students sitting on the floor, and we had to go in and talk to them, because they were devastated. And so we had to be the positive source, yeah, so you learned a lot.
Cheryl Graham 22:46
And you know, it's education is one of those things that if you have your heart in the right place, you can make the difference. And that is really true.
Katie Olmsted 23:03
Our thanks to Bill and Cheryl Graham for sharing their hearts with their students, and a big thank you to Ohio schools editor Julie Newhall for sharing their conversation with us. You can find a link for the Ohio School Story in the show notes for this episode, along with links to connect with us with your ideas for conversations you'd like to hear on future episodes. New Episodes drop every Thursday this school year, as we continue to hear from the people who are shaping our public education landscape every day. Because in Ohio, public education matters.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai