Gary Gossman Essay

A Grand Old Time Gary Gossman may not be a name that is known throughout the world, but it is a name that is carried in the hearts of the many students he had taught throughout his teaching career. Gary Gossman is my wonderful grandfather and was an even more wonderful teacher for the majority of his life. Gray’s life is made significant through his student life, teaching career, and unique teaching habits.
Gary was born in 1938 at his grandparent’s farmhouse in rural Decorah, Iowa. Only a week after he was born, he was almost killed in a tornado when his grandmother forgot him, sleeping in a basket, on the kitchen counter. Gray grew up in a large catholic family with his nine other siblings. After graduating high school, he went on Loras
Gary was more than proud of the fact that he gave his students a quiz everyday in his Latin class so that they would remember what they had learned the day before. Gary also wanted his students to apply what they were learning to the real world. While interviewing my grandfather he said, “In American Government, I never gave a student an A unless they did at least two ‘A projects’.” These “A projects” were simple things like interviewing a local politician or going to a town meeting. Gary confided that discipline had been the hardest part of being a teacher for him, but he always had the best strategy for dealing with rowdy students. His plan was extremely simple, “if a student would act up in class I would say, ‘that is a great point. Maybe you should stay behind after the bell so that we can discuss it’,” this phrase would make the color drain from even the worst troublemaker’s face. Unlike his co-workers when he first began working, Gary refused to yell at or hit any of his students. In his forty-two years of teaching, the idea of it never crossed his mind. Being a teacher takes a lot of patience, and just as his father always said, “just know you are smarter than the kids, and that you have more experience than