The challenge for many athletes is there is so much learning going on while you are getting to be active doing something you like that classroom lectures are boring and not the way you like to learn. I think one of the reasons nations have become better at academics than the United States is because they mix experiential learning with textbook learning. My good friend Jim Files played NFL football. He said the playbook was very thick and players are tested on the content. In fact when he played for the New York Giants they were tested every week before a game. Your playing time was evaluated based on your test score. Now, I like that form of learning. Well, as I said yesterday, classroom learning was not working for me in the 10th grade. But, it became necessary for me to get my act together in the classroom to be able to continue basketball. I had the same issues in college. As I mentioned yesterday, a small little lady named Miss Clara McGill came up to me one day at the beginning of the second semester of my sophomore year and said, “You can do better, Larry Bone.” I didn’t even know who she was prior to that little visit. But the fact that she said that got my attention. I started doing better. I ran for junior class representative for Student Council and got it. I even remember my slogan, but I’m not telling. Miss McGill was the sponsor. I started encountering girls who were leaders and smart. Peggy Moore was one of those people who really impressed me as a person. She was Miss McGill’s right hand person. Kay McSpadden, Kay Southerland - the list is pretty long. I got in a school play. That was fun. All of a sudden I woke up to things besides athletics. Mind you, basketball was still my first love, but I at least recognized there was a world outside athletics for the first time. Miss McGill showed me I had at least a bit of intelligence for the first time. I took Algebra 1 and Latin 1 under her and loved it. I was in Student Council and loved it. As I mentioned, Miss McGill was the sponsor. Miss McGill became my academic “coach.” She was tough, but I can still hear her laugh in my head. I know I had other teachers that were really good, but Miss McGill is my hero. Miss McGill was a single lady. I thought of her as pretty old when we were in school, but she probably wasn’t that old at the time. Everyone was old if they were over 25 years of age when I was in high school. Sound familiar. I took every class I could take under Miss McGill. Latin 1 and 2, Algebra 1 and 2, and Student Council. She was a leader in every way. She was tough, but alway helpful. She treated me like she was my mother. And, she was while I was in school. I was voted class president my senior year, and that really bothered me. My good friend, Lex Golden, and I were nominated for class president. I wanted Lex to win so bad. The only thing I knew the class president did was organize the senior dance. I knew I couldn’t do that! My dad would have turned me upside down and buried me! The senior class elected me anyway. I am still embarrassed about that to this day. Lex was my friend, and he would have made the best class president. But, it gave me more time with Miss McGill. I needed her leadership in my life at school. When I got ready to go to college, Miss McGill was the person I would have liked to have gone with me. I would have made a much better college student. I was lost without her for my first two years of college. When thinking back on influential people in my life, Miss McGill is at the top of my list when it comes to academics. I would not have made it through high school without her. And, she is the person that showed me I could do it if I tried. She showed me I could be a leader even when I didn’t want to be one. She had the iron hand of discipline on one hand, and a gracious hand of love on the other. That worked for me. Miss McGill, how can I say thanks to you for all you did for me? I made it through high school, I made it through college, and I made it through seminary. You made me want to take Hebrew and Greek in seminary just because you gave me the confidence to take a language course through Latin 1 and 2. I honor you today, Miss McGill. You are my teacher for a lifetime! I know you are still teaching and leading as you live your eternal life. I didn’t get to tell you enough in your lifetime how much I appreciated your love and support. I still think great thoughts of the talks you gave me, and the second chances you gave me. Thank you for coming to me in the halls of Batesville High School, stopping me and saying, “You can do better, Larry Bone.” I did because you cared.
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 14:47:21 +0000