The teaching profession is many things; however, “boring” is definitely not one of them. Unexpected teachable moments, issues with technology, and overzealous students are only a few things teachers can expect daily, making coming into work everyday never “boring”. As such, many teachers have accrued numerous funny stories over the years.
Gregg Bayer and John Prieboy, teaching at Plainfield Central for 18 years and 13 years respectively, have had many laughs, starting with their time teaching freshmen PE together.
“Teaching wellness together was a highlight of my career; we made it fun for the kids. Kids thrive on energy, they let their guard down a little bit and be themselves,” Prieboy said.
One particular story involves the main building boys’ locker room and the big kahuna drinking water.
“There’s some magic in that water,” Bayer said. “A baseball player once threw a no-hitter and attributed that to the faucet water. It was like the movie ‘Angels in the Outfield.’”
Physics and physical science teacher Nicole Jensik recalls a moment from Feb 11, 2020 that has since defined her teaching career and her relationship to staplers.
“My stapler fell on the floor and bent a little bit. I tried to unbend it, but my thumb slipped underneath and something hurt really bad,” Jensik said. “The next thing I knew I was in the nurse’s office. She was telling me to call my mom and to ‘sit down honey’. She thought I was a student. My department chair took me to the hospital, and made me wait for three hours until the hospital realized I still had the staple in my thumb, and they removed it.”
Geometry and AP stats teacher Ted Arison, a man known for his unique methods of point emphasis, had, one day, forgotten to close his door when giving a lesson.
“I imitated an old woman from an 80’s Wendy’s commercial, saying ‘Where’s the beef?’ I had my back to the door and it was open,” Arison said. “ Ms. Wolff was standing there for the whole thing. Her timing was impeccable.”
For physics teacher John Erickson and humanities department chair Steve Lamberti, their stories seemed to share an unlikely, embarrassing connection.
“About 20 years ago, at the end of 5th hour, my pants completely ripped on the backside. I taught the last two periods of the day without ever turning around, I must have looked ridiculous to my students,” Lamberti said. “The next day I brought an extra pair of pants to my office. I had a wicked rip.”
“Two years ago, first period, a student says: ‘do you know your pants are torn, it’s a big tear,” Erickson said. “I had to call my wife, like you call your mommy, to come bring me new pants. My second period AP class got to meet my wife.”
Stories such as these have brought smiles to both staff and students, because they feel they can laugh and be themselves in this family environment students have come to love.
