I Wish You a Paul

I had the privilege of working with Paul Mehling during my teaching career.  As a special education team member, we were searching for a different model of the delivery system within the continuum of services.  We decided to use a “Collaborative Teaching” model for students who were identified as having learning disabilities and general education students who were having difficulty academically with traditional methodology and blend these groups into one class.  At Lake Central High School, members of our department partnered with general education teachers in the areas of English, Math, and Science.  I was given the assignment of developing the program with two Science teachers in both Principles of Chemistry and Physics as well as Biology.  Elizabeth Hasan and Paul Mehling became my co-teachers.  Paul was the Science Department Chair and a veteran teacher.  We worked hard to prepare lessons where difficult concepts could be presented through easier to understand hands-on activities. We thought outside the box; sometimes way outside the box. We developed assessments where we could use the results to determine if our plan was working.  We sought feedback from the kids.  I learned a whole lot more than teaching Punnet squares and balancing chemical equations.  I learned that the most important part of “collaborative” teaching was a “collaborative relationship” between the adults. Without that, the chance of a successful program is diminished. Paul became not only my friend; he served as one of the most important mentors in my life. He was a father figure to me. We shared personal struggles and held each other up.  We were there for each other and never let the other down in doing his part in the classroom.  Paul and I both left LC in the same year; he to retirement and me to an administrative career. I cherish those years spent with Paul in the classroom. Paul Mehling passed away on February 16, 2017.  He left behind a wife, three children, and three grandchildren.  Did he make a difference in the lives of countless kids and a certain special education teacher? Without a doubt.  Paul Mehling made a huge difference in my life.  Rest in peace, my friend. 

We have an opportunity each day to function as part of a team.  I am sure that you feel that through our “School within a school” concept with multiple academic teams dispersed throughout the building.  I am also sure that you grow close to the members of your team because you share one very important thing each day = kids.  Many days it must feel that you spend more time with your teammates than you do with your own family.  Maybe you are an LRE teacher doing all sorts of things – push-in, pull-out, resource, team-teaching and throughout your daily journey is the need to develop relationships with those teachers that you share kids with.  Maybe you are in an encore department and wonder how you can get closer to the people that share your subjects.  Take an opportunity to visit their class, share some ideas and maybe attempt to team-teach a lesson or two.  When you get closer to the end, you will begin to look back on perhaps several decades of time in a school.  Here’s what you will remember – the relationships that you formed.  Sure, you may recall a killer lesson or an activity that you swear should be patented.  Every teacher has that.  But, all along its been about relationships.  If you have built great relationships with your colleagues, keep on not only doing that , but adding to that list.  If the relationship part has been lax in your teaching life, the time has come to reach out and begin that today.  I hope that you have a Paul Mehling in your life.  I thank God that he was in mine.