If teacher Joseph Lis hadn`t lost his way decades ago, generations of Brookfield children might not have found theirs.
On a cloudy November day in 1956, he was looking for Brookfield Zoo, and
”I stopped at (Gross Elementary School) and asked for directions,” Lis says.
He and the principal struck up a conversation, and Lis, a recent De Paul University graduate and Marine Corps veteran from Chicago`s North Side, was offered the post of science teacher.
”I signed the contract, and I think I started the next day,” recalls Lis, 58. ”I`ve been there ever since . . . I love it.”
In the nearly 32 years since he accepted the post, the affection has been returned by the hundreds of Brookfield students who have learned about life, physics and biology in Lis` 7th- and 8th-grade classroom.
”He is just a wonderful teacher and all-round person,” says Janet Behring, Gross School PTA president and a former Lis pupil. ”He`s one of those rare teachers that you`re lucky if you get one in your life.”
Behring`s two children also had Lis as a teacher, and ”I was thrilled that they got to,” she says.
On a recent Tuesday morning just before 9 a.m., 7th graders file quickly into Lis` classroom at Gross Elementary School, 3524 Maple Ave., which includes 5th through 8th graders. (Brookfield-La Grange Park School District 95`s kindergarten through 4th grade classes are held at Brook Park School, 30th and Raymond Avenue, La Grange Park.)
A sign heralds the classroom as ”The Wonderful World of Science.”
Inside hangs a photograph of Lis with his wife, Margaret, and a former student at the student`s medical school graduation.
Near that is an enlarged cover of ”Scientific American” designed by a former student who later dedicated a science textbook to Lis.
At the front of the room hangs a wooden sign reading, ”Mr. Lis the Scientist.”
”That`s what they call me,” Lis says.
Another banner identifies the instructor as ”A Real Polish Hotdog.” And Lis has added his own statement: ”Happiness is being Polish.”
Presiding over the scene is ”Stosh,” a cutaway human muscle and tissue model who sports Mickey Mouse ears, and a skeleton dubbed ”Marisha.” Vintage Chicago Bears photos compete with instruction charts, specimens and plaques attesting to Lis` teaching success.
After a minute or two of friendly banter between Lis and the class, tests on mitosis (cell division) are returned and answers are read for review.
Then it`s on to a unit on DNA, and heads are bent as diagrams and notes are meticulously recorded in spiral notebooks from filmstrip illustrations and Lis` blackboard.
Lis insists that his students take notes.
Then the class discusses possible gene combinations. ”Come on, get those wheels turning,” Lis says.
Throughout the 45-minute session, Lis stops by students` desks to answer questions and clarify points-a hallmark of his teaching style.
Lis believes firmly in liberal doses of roll-up-the-sleeves experience in imprinting knowledge and theory.
”I don`t think science should be taught from a book,” he says. Nor does it have to be dull. ”I do crazy things.” Sometimes, for example, classes include lessons delivered in costume, students strapped onto roller skates, or mysterious bubbling cauldrons on Halloween. Classwork also is likely to be laced with Lis` storytelling, accordion serenades, or even end-of-the-year kielbasa (Polish sausage) boils. (Water is heated at a Bunsen burner.)
”He just makes it really fun,” says 7th grader Andrea Barajaz. ”He mixes science with jokes,” says Amy Horgan, another class member.
Students find far more than entertainment in Lis` classes. Many mention that the required class notes have been invaluable in further study. ”My son just started college biology, and he`s going back to those notes” for help, says Carol Kissane, of Brookfield.
Students respond to Lis` ability to get and hold their attention while using a personal approach. He often counsels students individually on future educational and career goals.
Lis can appeal to ”the intellectual . . . (and) to kids who have a chip on their shoulder,” says William Puckett, principal at Brook Park and former Gross principal. ”He has the ability to grab kids that others miss.”
”I try to tell them, `What you do, do to the best of your ability,`
” Lis says, adding that ”I may expect a little more from each one . . . but I also grade on how hard they work.”
It`s the combination of instruction and empathy that many students remember the most. ”You have to study . . . but if you have a problem, he can work it out,” says former student Scott Behring.
Lis says he tries to be understanding about problems or pressures that his students face. He was inspired by a philosophy professor at De Paul University who made an effort to be sensitive to students` needs. ”I`ve remembered that all these years,” he says. He received a bachelor`s degree in education there in 1956.
Many former students who have gone on to medicine, law and other professional careers credit Lis with giving them a solid foundation. School files are bulging with letters from graduates who praise Lis, says Principal James Quilty. Lis also has a generous bundle of such letters.
”There`s a satisfaction watching them grow and develop,” says Lis, whose three daughters have been in his classes. ”Watching the kids succeed at life . . . I think that`s what keeps me in teaching.”
Though Lis first considered a career of dentistry, he chose science because ”it always fascinated me. I`d probably be richer today, but wouldn`t have as many friends. I`m richer in friends.”
Science brought Lis and his wife, Margaret, together-even though she had little interest in the subject. They met at Gross, where she was a 6th grade teacher from Chicago`s South Side who didn`t relish the science portion of her teaching duties. ”He sort of coached me in that area,” says Margaret, 50, who now is a social studies teacher at a Hillside parochial school.
The collaboration resulted in marriage in 1961. Their three daughters followed-Kathleen, 23; Christine, 20; and Laureen, 17-and the couple agree that being parents has enriched their classroom skills. ”I think we`ve both become better teachers,” she says.
In addition to teaching, Lis was responsible for creating the schools`
outdoor science program and redesigning the department`s junior high curriculum, making it comparable to high school programs, Puckett says.
”Science is not memorization-it`s making predictions . . . and it`s constantly changing,” Lis says.
Though it requires stamina to ”keep at least two steps ahead,” of his charges,” the experience is invigorating, he says. ”I love it simply because I feel like I`m 18 years old.”
Lis also manages to find enough time and energy to join students for after-hours basketball and field hockey games, works out several times a week and bicycles in his neighborhood. He also works in his vegetable and geranium gardens.
Lis and his wife have considered opening an academy where exceptional students could learn at an accelerated rate. But it`s not likely he`ll abandon his junior high teaching, even for that. ”They`re going to have to carry me out of the classroom,” he says.
