My sophomore year I was the school reporter. Mr. Gefroh was, along with his superintendent responsibilities, also the typing teacher. In typing class, I typed up my submission for the school paper. This particular month, there wasn't really a whole lot to talk about. So, in a typical sophomoric fashion, I proceeded to put into words the blase' month by stating something to the effect, "same old school, same old students, same old routine, same old teachers." Rather innocuous don't you think? Not so to Mr. Gefroh. Not only did he tell on me to my folks, but he also called me on the carpet for being so disrespectful to staff.
Looking back on it now, I can see, given the times and how social mores were just a tad more respectful in nature than they are nowadays, how my naive, sophomoric statements could have been misconstrued to be disrespectful in their intent. The reality couldn't have been further from the truth, but they could be, and were, construed as such by Mr. Gefroh.
Mr. Gefroh, however, had the integrity and the determination to back up his staff and he called me out on my transgression.
I'd have to say that in some ways, Mr. Gefroh was one of the more influential mentors who gave me pause to think and then rethink putting words to paper before actually doing so. At the time, I was flabbergasted, upset, embarrassed, and totally flummoxed by his reaction to what I had written. Truth be told, I was actually pretty pissed off!
My parents, when informed by Mr. Gefroh, of my bad reporting, before reacting as some parents might have done by grounding me or something far worse than that, sat me down for a "talk". We discussed honesty, integrity, tastefulness, rudeness, and much more at the kitchen table. When all was said and done, it was agreed, although reluctantly by me, that I owed the school staff an apology. I couldn't send a global email (no computers at that time which would have kept it much more obscured from the public eye), so the next best thing was to write, and have published in the next issue of the school paper an apology and retraction - one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, much less write for everyone to see.
Nothing more was said. The deed was done. Apology accepted - at least that's what I had to assume. None of the staff said anything about it to me.
From that moment on, every article I wrote for the school paper, every essay I wrote for any class I was enrolled in, whether in high school or college, all the lesson plans I prepared during my teaching days both in public and adult education, and all the technical writing I did for the agencies I worked for got a little extra consideration from me on whether or not it was worded the way it should be. I still struggle with this "affliction", if you want to call it that, to this day. Re-reading something until it becomes a blur is now my norm. Re-checking for anything that might offend, that might be misconstrued is almost an obsession, pretty much all thanks to Mr. Gefroh - and I mean that with all due respect for someone who taught me a valuable lesson in human interaction at a very young age.
So, thank you Mr. Gefroh for all you did for New Leipzig High School, and for me in particular.
