Mark was named the Outstanding Young Educator by the Montville Jaycees in 1965, the first year that the award was instituted. He finished his Master’s Degree at the University of Hartford in the same year. In 1967, he was one of the thirty Social Studies teachers selected to attend the Asian-African teaching institute at the University of Bridgeport. In 1972, Mark received Montville’s first sabbatical leave. He decided to study Media and Library Science at Arizona State University in Tempe Arizona.
Mark was always interested in community service so he established the Montville Youth Service Corps. This group won the Governor’s Award for community service by aiding the victims of a horrible tornado that ravaged central Connecticut. Mark also started a high school bloodmobile that became a model for the area. Nursing, home economics, business, and many other departments joined together to help the Red Cross achieve its quota. It restored your faith in our youth when you saw how they pitched in and donated blood for the first time. A proud moment was when the Governor of Connecticut came to MHS school and dedicated a memorial that we had erected by the entrance of the high school. Vinny Villano and Mark raised funds with the help of the Social Studies department to construct a monument dedicated to the memory of the seven brave Montville guys that lost their lives in Viet Nam. They were all great young men and we wanted people to stop for a moment and reflect on their sacrifice. Hopefully they still do today.
Mark was also involved with the “Dollars for Scholars” fundraising for needy students. He also helped organize charity basketball games with the proceeds going to our Social Studies Scholarship Fund. He was one of the initial members of the School Crisis Resource Team formed to help students and staff deal with tragedies. It was gratifying to know that it gave support and comfort to many people who were going through rough times.
Mark started a Ph. D. program at UCONN in 1984. Going part-time, he finished eleven years later in 1995 and was often razzed about how long it took. The administration was extremely helpful in arranging his schedule so he could get to UCONN for classes. His dissertation was on “distance education” and he received his Ph.D. in Technical Education in May of 1995. Mark’s dad was terminally ill in Florida so he retired in January of 1997 and, with his wife Veryl, moved to Palm Bay to take care of him. His dad passed away on July 4, 1997.
After nine months of going to the beach every day, Mark decided it was time to work again. He accepted the position of Library Director at a small technical school, Herzing College. The September 11th disaster cut the student body by nearly 30% almost overnight as many of the students were in the Reserves. This branch of Herzing College (Melbourne) closed shortly afterwards. He went to nearby Keiser College (now university) and ran their library during the evening. After teaching for so many years, the library work was a refreshing change of pace. Mark still works at Keiser University today but only on Monday & Tuesday evenings. Hopefully Mark can continue working for a few more years as it is great interacting with the students, faculty/staff, and administration of this important institution.
The author sincerely hopes that you enjoy reading this book. He also hopes that you come away with a better understanding of what it is like to teach in the public schools. Teachers and administrators face a backlash from the public when test scores seem low and discipline problems abound. You can not force anyone to learn; all you can do is set up the conditions where learning is encouraged and rewarded. Mark once had a difficult student throw a barb at me. She walked up to him and proudly stated: “YOU DIDN’T TEACH ME ANYTHING!” He looked at her for a moment and said to her “you’re right.” He saw the confused and somewhat vacant look on her face so he said “you really teach yourself, you know. teachers only try to help you along the way when you are ready to learn.” She was expecting a confrontation and seemed disappointed that he refused to see us as “enemies.”
Schools are a microcosm of society as a whole. If society accepts violent behavior in sports as well as daily life, condones lying and cheating in business, and fosters the notion that we are all victims and thus not responsible for any actions that we decide to take, do we expect our students not to mirror what they see as acceptable in the adult world? In the last three decades or so, schools have been asked to assume a laundry list of roles. They include teacher, social worker, psychologist, babysitter, referee, role model, surrogate parent, mentor, friend and listener. Teachers don’t always get it right all of the time but I do not remember very many cases where they gave up or stopped trying. If we are truly “to leave no child behind,” it will take a partnership of parents and educators who are dedicated to working together to make the educational environment safe and effective for all students. If we fail in this endeavor, we will suffer as a nation, either in our national pride or our pocketbooks…or perhaps both.
If you would like to order a copy of this book, please send $12 which will handle publishing and mailing costs. Please include your name and address and reply to the following address:
Mark H. Lucas
P.O. Box 111446
Palm Bay, FL 32911
