by Fred Hilsenrath
We had Randy Moore give us a talk about Shirley. He is a dedicated teacher and enjoys his involvement with his students.
He graduated from Newport High School (1970) and taught most of his career at Newport Junior High as a teacher and coach. Randy attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro for his undergraduate work and UCA for a Masters. Randy married his high school sweetheart and best friend, Pam, in 1971. Pam worked in Education for 32 years and retired from Shirley last year and is enjoying spending time with their 7 grandchildren and their great grandchild. They have two children, Bobby, who is vice-president of the Christian Relief Fund and travels the world helping and feeding people. He has been blessed to be able to work with his son in Mexico, Nicaragua and Honduras during breaks at school. Their son, Charley, works in the main offices of Burlington Northern San Francisco railroad.
Randy felt honored to speak at the Fairfield Bay Rotary Club at the November 18, 2015 meeting. He talked about the wonderful staff that Shirley has in the school system. The K-12 staff members are very caring and knowledgeable instructors and their counselors, secretaries, maintenance/custodians, para pros, tech man and cafeteria workers are some of the best in the state. Mrs. Betty McGruder is the superintendent and is a very good leader for the Shirley School System. Randy let the Rotarian’s know that he has been at Shirley for the past sixteen years and is very blessed to work in this outstanding school. Randy is proud of the young people that he gets to work with on a daily basis and he does attempt to be a positive example to all. Randy also appreciates the work that the Rotary Club does and the influence they have on the small community. His dream and goal is to make sure all students who he is responsible for get an education. The diploma is a ticket that doesn’t expire and with it they can always take the next step in life.
I would like to add a few thoughts of my own to the spirit and facts of learning and the preference of sports over other subjects. It is refreshing to hear about the good sports activities in our Shirley school. I remember President Kennedy talking about the value of physical exercise and sports and how a healthy mind needs a healthy body. The other dimension of education are equally important. It is our human response and every living being’s response to seek the easy way out, no matter what the task. I notice that as most students like sports and shy away from subjects as math, science, history, and literature and so on. I heard, all too often, it is difficult to control the TEXTING activity in class, which is easier and more fun than trying to understand more difficult subjects. To some extent it is the responsibility of the parents to convince their children that learning is fun instead of a chore.
Cont’d page 7
It really feels good to have learned some new skill or thoughts that one did not know before. The fun of learning often begins with questions. Just think of so many phenomena in our environment that we do not understand, think of so many issues we do not have an answer for, so many wonders that surround us for which we have no explanation; when we read or hear a comment concerning our curiosity, from our teacher or from books, we discover possible answers and that is exciting. Yes, the thrill of learning begins with questions. It goes without saying that knowledge and skills get rewarded later in life, with fulfilling work and comfortable financial existence.