Amaris Britton, an 8th grader at Tanner Elementary School, says she cannot lie. Since Mr. Carter has been gone, her classmates have been acting up and haven’t been given much homework.
It’s been almost a month since Launder Carter, a major in the Army Reserves, left to train with his unit in Wisconsin and await orders for the Middle East.
“You could hear a pin drop when he was here,” said Amaris, a quiet girl who said that she has been struggling to keep up with her studies while substitutes try to fill big shoes.
One substitute, she said, “Let us do whatever. Eat, holler.”
Increasing numbers of teachers, who belong to reserve units, have been called to active duty to serve in continuing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Chicago, 15 public school teachers and aides have been called for duty since the U.S. invaded Iraq. Most of the instructors remain out of the classroom, leaving a void in their schools.
At Beethoven Elementary School on the South Side, special education teacher Aaron Rucker has not been forgotten.
Last year, he was hit in the foot with shrapnel during combat. While recovering in a military hospital in Europe, the teacher has called his school several times and talked to fellow teachers and pupils.
They have given him encouragement and done their best to keep his spirits up. The incident, said Principal Dyrice Garner, “shook him up.”
It was not enough to hire just one replacement for Carlos Ruiz, an art and theater instructor at Taft High School on the Northwest Side, who is in Iraq.
The school had to hire two teachers–one for art and one for theater. He was also the girls and boys volleyball coach.
Ruiz, who left shortly after Christmas, is a weapons specialist in the Army.
His departure made an overseas conflict more real.
“The kids really understood how close the war was when they saw someone leave, especially someone they were close to,” said Nilda Pauley, the fine arts department chairwoman. “They were very afraid that he was not going to come back. There were a lot of tears.”
Maynard Favila, a teacher at Columbia Explorers Academy on the Southwest Side, retired from the Army as a captain. He began teaching 7th grade in September 2002 and was recalled to duty two months later.
Even in that short period of time, Favila made an impact, said Principal Jose Barrera. He sent the school an American flag from Kuwait and visited with his former pupils briefly in December.
“We are waiting for him to come back so we can give him a big party,” Barrera said.
When Carter ran his 8th-grade class, test scores improved, Tanner Principal Aaron Barnes said. But when he started teaching at the school eight years ago, pupils had to get used to Carter’s drill-sergeant style.
Up to the last hour of his last school day, Jan. 23, Carter was still working out algebra problems with his class.
The teacher exemplified, “military bearing.”
He examined a pupil’s answer on the overhead projector.
“The solution is right but is that the way I showed you?” he said in a booming voice.
“No,” the class said in unison.
“But that’s all right. It’s just not the way I showed you,” he said.
Even with former pupils coming in to bid him goodbye, he kept the class on track–almost to the end.
At 2:09 p.m., his other class of 8th graders streamed in for a last goodbye. For once, he let his pupils climb over him.
Some, however, could not stop crying.
Two weeks later, he talked to his pupils on the telephone and was able to quiet them down–from Wisconsin.
As usual, it was in a no-nonsense manner.
“When I come back, I don’t want to see none of y’all’s face in here,” he told the prospective high school freshmen.
Barnes said it has been difficult finding a replacement for Carter. He came in early and stayed late to tutor pupils, Barnes said.
“It’s hard to find people who are able to come in and teach 8th-grade students in the middle of a school year,” Barnes said. “Most would struggle. It’s hard material.”
Barnes said national defense is a priority but for a group of pupils on the South Side “it certainly is a disruption.”
