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                   Welcome to the Dixon High School Class Of 1967 forum.

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The latest discussion is: Favorite Teacher

 

During our four years at DHS, we all had many teachers. There were teachers that we really enjoyed, and some that we just couldn't wait to get out of their classes. For this discussion, I want you to think back to your favorite teacher: who inspired you, really cared about you and other students, made an impact, etc. We will have a list of the top teachers that are picked. 

                                                                   Top Teachers so far:  

                                                            Mr. Willard, Mr. Boyer, Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Wiltz, Mr. Jordan

 


 
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04/12/12 04:37 PM #13    

Gary Edmunds

Dick McCarthy-- The original low rider!  Always slouched in the car.  Stuck to his guns about having to wear socks to his class.  I can still picture guys sitting in the hall putting on sock before class and taking them off after.  Always lively and open discussions, if he thought you were full of crap, he would tell you.  If we ever elect a King; he still gets my vote.


04/22/12 04:10 AM #14    

 

Randy Youngren

Kirby Knudson did my driver's training.  

The "uh" guy was Zinnen.  History.  We had a stint of big group lecture in the auditorium followed by small group in a variety of classrooms.  Bill Zinnen.  Deadly as a lecturer.   


04/30/12 09:16 PM #15    

 

Cassie Hinkle (Noone)

Mr Franklin taught Driver's Ed when I took it. He was great! We often stopped for ice cream.


05/23/12 10:56 PM #16    

 

Steven Egler

Well, having read all of these responses, I have to comment that Mr. Franklin was my driver's ed teacher...he was kind but tough.  So many drivers  on the road these days need to heed his advice!

Of course, Robert L'Heureux made a huge impact upon me both as a teacher and as a musician.  I know that I was not alone!

Mr. Willard, of course, as a great entertainer/teacher with a great gift for us getting "into" English literature.

Louise Pogue, George Renne...great teachers of our language and all of its various ins and outs.

Christine Bessmer...Latin teacher par excelence, who made this "dead" language come alive in her presence.  She was truly one of the best teachers that I ever had all the way through high school and college.

With 12 years of post-high-school education, many of my best teachers were from the Dixon school system...HANDS DOWN!  We were lucky!!!!!!!!!


07/02/12 12:01 AM #17    

 

George Berg

Coach Jordon was great! All the male teachers that were coaches were excellent men and role models. Kirby Knudson might have been the exception. He was a light weight compared to the others - drivers Ed? Seriously?

Mrs. Day the Chemistry teacher - almost forgot her! She was very cool!

 


08/28/12 06:50 PM #18    

 

Twyla Krakow (McDonald)

Mr. Jordan was THE best driver's ed. teacher.  I still think of him when I'm checking my rear view mirrors.  Sometimes, I even call out the color of the car behind me!

Mr. Willard was great for making us think.  I didn't like his yard stick, though.


09/12/12 03:01 PM #19    

 

Stan Logan

Lloyd Swan was super for Algebra. I should have had Mr. Swan for grade school math. No doubt I would have avoided years of distress in math class. And he ran the swimming pool too!

Merlin Willard was a gift to the 1967 seniors--those lucky enough to be in his class. I liked English so having him as teacher was icing on the cake.

Frank M., you are right about Wayne Harshman. Another super teacher. Not many students took Electrical shop, though. He was a hidden treasure.

I can't believe no guys have mentioned Wayne Morss. We're talking Mr. easy does it in the ol' PE class. And maybe the most successful wrestling coach ever at DHS.


10/04/12 10:22 PM #20    

 

Sandra Butler (Lewis)

i liked mr.boyer...stan always liked mr.franklin and of course, chuck vail. reading from the above...how could i forget mr. mcCarthy? what a teacher! i also liked mr. zinnen...a little dry...but a softy


06/15/13 09:27 PM #21    

 

Tom Pogue

I also had Coach Franklin for Driver's Training.

Marilyn Day (Chemistry) was excellent.  I also had her class right after P.E.  I can remember how upset she would get when a few of us guys would arrive late due to insufficient time to change after the gym class.  And it was not that far from the gym to the chemistry room!

I was in math classes with Mr Swann for 2 years.  I enjoyed that time.

I was in Wayne Morss' gym class for 1 year.  He was the best gym teacher that I had in the 4 years of DHS. 

Dick McCarthy was very good for World History.

Does anyone remember the "Team Teaching" concept that DHS tried out for American History when we were juniors ????    There were 3 instructors:  Jerry Barrabas, Bill Zinnen, and Dick McCarthy.  I remember that I absolutely hated it--especially those 2 days per week when we had the "small group discussions".

 


06/17/13 11:08 AM #22    

 

Mary Eller (McNamee)

Bette Otwell-Home Ec. and sponsor for the Nurse's Club-what a cutie-she was a real confidence builder-her style was to teach a way to do something that really worked, you could use it, and you would be OK. 

 

Mary Jane Weinberg-typing-straight out of the Gestopo-I had her for Typing and Advanced Typing, the woman never smiled-but I sure appreciated having typing skills-they took me all the way up through computors.

 

Evelyn Arnauld-English-she wore the nicest clothes-matching skirts and sweaters with jewelry and scarves-she made us write a lot of papers.

Nancy Sheeley-Spanish-is she surprised at how much Spanish is spoken in the U.S. now?  I still remember 3 phrases, and can recognize words here and there.

 

Richard Franklin-I had him for Driver's Ed., too.  It was a summer class.  It was my turn to drive, and he asked me if I had ever driven, and I said no, I had not.  So, we went through all the preliminaries, and when I put my foot on the gas and started heading for the cars parked along the street, his face turned bright red and he stepped on his brake pedal so hard! When he could breathe again, he said, "you weren't kidding were you?."  He talked me though it, and  we survived that day, but he was  sure paying attention.


04/22/15 06:04 AM #23    

 

Linda Woodyatt (Christensen)

Loved Mr McCarthy!  He was the best.  Mr Franklin told me my right foot would kill me some day and I still drive too fast but think of his comment often and smile.  Ms. Day for chemistry was a favorite too.

 

 


04/22/15 12:45 PM #24    

 

George Berg

We did have some great teachers! Mrs. Day's dust explosion experiment (chemisrty class) got out of hand (the lid on the old style dairy milk can got hammered in to place way to hard). When we ignited the mixture, it blew up, destroyed the ceiling's accoutistic tiles and knocked Mrs.Day off her stool.

 


04/25/15 08:18 PM #25    

 

David Janssen

I liked Mrs. Day and I think she liked fire and explosions.  I remember she burnt a hole in her blouse with the magnesium demonstration.   I don’t think anything good came of the iodine demo either.  You can’t say her class was boring.  I’ve had lots of chemistry and physics since and none of it was half as interesting or fun.   


12/13/15 02:13 AM #26    

Vickie Karn (Schalk)

Mr Boyer

12/14/15 04:04 PM #27    

Carol Carr (Martin)

Mr. Jordan and Mr. McCarthy were great.

07/07/16 10:45 PM #28    

Susan Loomis (Bechard)

Mr. Wiltz and Mr. Swan were my favorites. Both pushed us to be the very best. 


07/08/16 02:36 PM #29    

David Baker

 

Unlike Tom Pogue I remember the history team-teaching experiment during junior year quite favorably.  The small group discussion I don't recall, but all three lecturers were engaging in their own way.  In terms of a "favorite" for me, it was Christine Bessmer.--David Baker

 

 

 


10/08/17 11:17 PM #30    

Betty Swartz (Jordan)

Mrs. Day tried hard to make Chemistry understandable..loved her dry wit. Mr. McCarthy knew his stuff, but scared the heck out of me/us because of how he'd lecture and suddenly drop a question. He'd go up and down the rows, but u never knew what question u'd get. Kept us paying attention. I knew he was kind inside because i watched him go easy on one particular friend who struggled.   I remember really liking Mr Roach because he sparked my understanding of geometry. Miss Hendricks (Reed) really cared about physical fitness, & was a nice counter to Mrs. Roe's intensity.  Mary Fran Uren actually treated us seniors as adults.

We were fortunate to have many great teachers.

Yeah, team teaching hurt my head!  Mr. Zinnen meant well but it was hard to stay focused on his lectures.

My favorite class, like an oasis in my day, was Architectural Drafting, taught by Mr Lindell. 

And Mrs Sheeley for Spanish, I think all 4 yrs.  Maybe 3. Dont remember.

Just like I've forgotten 3/4 of what we learned!


12/12/20 02:13 PM #31    

 

David Janssen

I have to second Steve Egler. "With 12 years of post-high-school education, many of my best teachers were from the Dixon school system...HANDS DOWN!  We were lucky!!!!!!!!!"  I also have about 12 years post-high-school education and my experience was much the same as Steve's.  This from someone who really didn't care for school.  My idea was to get my homework done in study hall and go home to do my own thing.  That and to get good enough grades to get in college and avoid the draft.  I'm adding this a few days later.  I think I should say that I think I understand know way I didn't like school.  I had a hearing loss that I was not admitting.  It is hard to be part of things when your not getting a lot of what going on around you.  For classes I always tried to sit in the front row near the teacher.  The schools was already complaining about my hearing tests in early grade school.  Know I have the good sense to wear hearing aids. 


12/13/20 10:14 AM #32    

 

Bill Wagner

Miss Bessmer – Best ever.  I learned far more about the English language while taking Latin than I did in English.  If you want to be transported back to Latin class, search YouTube for “Life Of Brian Graffiti Scene Subtitles”.

Mr. L’Heureux – Between he and Mr. Bowman, Dixon had two spectacularly good music educators.

Mr. Swan – His explanations of math concepts always left me wondering “what’s next?” - and looking forward to finding out.

Mr. Willard – The most “un-teacher-like” teacher in the school.

Mrs. Day – Who else would bring a record player and play comedy albums?  (Possibly a self-defense measure when facing a room full of teen-agers armed with Bunsen Burners.)

Mr. Barrabas – Does anyone else remember his rant against the evils of those new-fangled things called “credit cards”?


07/23/22 07:34 AM #33    

 

John Thompson


07/23/22 03:01 PM #34    

Edith Heckman (Huffman)

    Saddened to learn of Ernie's death.  Fond memories, mostly of our time at Lincoln.  At our 50th reunion I reminded him of our encounter in Chicago:  I was with nursing school friends and they were jealous because I'm talking to a handsome sailor and I'm the one engaged!  

   Time is running short for us all.  Enjoy what you have left,


07/12/23 12:09 PM #35    

Patricia O'Rorke (Scites)

Sending my deepest sympathy to the Stan Lewis Family! RIP Stan


08/18/23 06:48 PM #36    

 

Sandra Butler (Lewis)

i thank all of you for , your responses, cards and memorials, they will never be forgotten.Stan was a terrific individual in every sense of those words...i loved him deeply and he always told me..."no, i love you more".

Covid took him down and "birthed" so many other maladies in him. we, as a family, couldn't believe he didn't die while in intensive care....then only to survive and get covid again ...(after the vaccines and boosters). 

i cannot expess how much i miss him, as do the kids, grands and great grands. so all of you please, hold to them ( your prized human possessions ) every day, communicate , kiss the family and tell them how much they mean to you.

not sure how the time , and those years, so quickly sped by for all of us.

again, i thank you...just remember , love and tell those close to you how much they mean and how important each of them are.....(doesn't hurt to spread that concept to all)....

sandy (butler) lewis


11/30/23 10:28 AM #37    

 

George Berg

If you haven't already ordered 'Letters Home - reflections of a Marine rifleman' there's still time. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and wherever quality books are sold. 


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