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| The Setting Sun Over Prairie Hill School |
In 2009 I was honored to be able to give the last speech in what had been a kindergarten through 8th grade school for the previous 50 years. After that year, our district became two schools; Prairie Hill School became a K-4th grade school (now including pre-K as well), and Willowbrook Middle School was built for the 5th-8th grade students. It has been ten years now since I gave that speech. I didn't have any outdoor adventures in this month of May, so I will post that speech here in my blog. The words are symbolic, ironic, and paint a picture of who we are as a district.
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Prairie Hill’s 2009 Eighth Grade
Graduation Speech
Our History and Identity through Change
I am honored to be speaking to you this evening; the Prairie Hill
class of 2009.
I am intrigued by words and the ways they can be used to bring
meaning. Sometimes though, when I speak
or write, I enjoy communicating in parables where others have to figure out
what I mean. The students here will tell
you that I like to challenge them to figure things out for themselves. I may give them a similar problem to a
question, to model a process, or tell them a story or make up an example, but
I’ll never give them a straight answer. What
fun would that be? This world needs more
thinkers and here at Prairie Hill we “crank out” our fair share of them. It usually follows along these lines:
“Mr. Rhines, I don’t get this?”
“Funny, I don’t get it either, but after you sweat & bleed
trying to work it out, I can help you with it.
When you struggle at it, then I know it means something to you.”
How cool is
it when you’re leading a student, who figures something out on their own, and
all you had to do was guide them…as opposed to using a cattle prod. Whether it’s breaking a full court press to
get the ball down to the other basket, learning how to simplify a fraction
problem through cross reducing, inferring what happens in a food web when the
leopard frog is eliminated, or how to deal with friends who suddenly aren’t
getting along, we call this coaching, instructing and teaching. Of course this is all under the guise of
change. Change is the one thing that is
constant through life and the better we adapt to it the easier life is. That is not to say it is easier in the sense
that we don’t have to worry about conflict, it just means we can deal with it
better when it comes. Being a thinker
helps us deal with change.
Someday, inscribed as an epitaph on my gravestone will be the
words “See you along The Way”. It has become my mantra of sorts because I’m
on a “Life Journey” and I might as well see what I can learn and who I can positively
influence along The Way; amidst God’s mercy and grace and life’s changes.
As we honor these 8th grade graduates and think about
the way they’ve changed over the years, let’s first talk about change
itself. Once upon a time, but not that
long ago, this area along the Rock River valley was occupied by various Native
American tribes who both hunted and farmed the land in established
communities. Some of the tribes who called
this area home were the Lakota-Sioux, the Ho Chunk-Winnebago and the Illiniwek. Later as eastern woodland tribes were pushed
westward by the arrival of the white Europeans on the Atlantic shores, our area
also saw the Ottawa, Kickapoo, Miami, Potawatomi, Ojibwe and the combined
Sac/Fox tribes. This land right here was
surrendered through trickery by one band of the Sac/Fox tribe in the treaty of
1804. Due to the US’s involvement in the
War of 1812, however, the Native Americans were not forced west of the
Mississippi River as the treaty stated.
Illinois became a state in 1818 but even at that time, two-thirds of the
state was still occupied by Native American tribes. Talk about change!
On May 9th, 1832 some Sac/Fox Indians attacked a small
trading post and settlement called Bird’s Grove that was located at the mouth
of our very own Dry Run Creek as it entered the Rock River where Hononegah
Forest Preserve is now located. This is
the creek that flows under the crossroads just down here at Willowbrook and
Prairie Hill Roads. I know that creek as
my friend and coaching partner, Louie Gugliuzza, and I set out to kayak home to
Rockford by this route last spring.
After reaching the preserve muddy, mosquito bitten, and
exhausted…there’s a gazillion log jams between here and there…we had to abandon
the expedition as darkness kept us off the big river. It was cool knowing we were paddling historic
waters, however, and you’ll be happy to know we are finishing that voyage this next
week. Anyway, the trading post that was
attacked was owned by a fur trader named Stephen Mack. Sound familiar? You know; he’s the husband of Hononegah. That’s right, we had them first! : ) The Sac/Fox Indians captured Mack and several of his workers while
burning down his post. Luckily for
Steven Mack some friendly members of the Winnebago tribe arrived in time to
save him. This was the beginnings of the
Blackhawk War that eventually led to US soldiers chasing Chief Blackhawk and
2,000 of his people who were trying to regain their lands, up along the Rock
River to the north and on to the Wisconsin River. They would eventually be attacked, and most
of them were killed, as they tried crossing the Mississippi River back into
Iowa north of Prairie du Chien.
Blackhawk was captured and Stephen Mack rebuilt his trading post at the
mouth of the Pecatonica River near present day Rockton. Talk about change! The story of this change is both tragic and amazing, and a lot of
it began right here in our community.
You may be wondering what this has to do with the 2009
graduates. Well, following 1832 and the
removal of Native Americans from this land, the area opened up to white settlement. The first school of our area was established
in 1840. School was held at the “Old Log
Inn” near the corner of what is now Prairie Hill and Pleasant Valley Roads
(near the cemetery). A few years later
another small, one room school house was built just south of this site on Pinnacle
Hill. It was known as the Old Stone
School and was used until 1881 when some land was donated just west of that location
down on the prairie. The new location
also proved tempting as it was closer to the water in our creek. A new school was soon built and was known as
the Nichols School. In 1949 the Nichols
School, along with the nearby White and Hayward one room school houses, were
sold to make money for a newer consolidated school building. This new school was opened in 1952. Yahoo!
Unfortunately, in 1958 the Illinois State Highway Commission notified
the area residents that the new school was directly in the way of the planned
(I-90) toll way. The board of education
accepted an offer from the state and built a newer Prairie Hill School that
opened in 1959 just north of the Willowbrook and Prairie Hill intersection
where we are today. It had four rooms
(where Mr. Zdeb, Mrs. Wyatt, Mrs. Furmanek and Miss Long currently are) and a
small gym/cafeteria which is where our band and music rooms are now. In 1968 they added 5 more classrooms around
the corner to Mrs. Andrew’s and Mrs. Froman's rooms. In 1975 they added this Bob Clothier
Gymnasium here, the kitchen which is our current concession stand, and our
locker rooms. In 1979 they added the
junior high hallway from Mr. Rogers’ room down to Mrs. Hand’s room. In 1996 the new offices, library, all-purpose
room and classrooms from Mrs. Ciciora’s room down to Mrs. Hill’s room were
added. The last addition to this beloved
building was in 2002 when they added the section which included the west side
bathrooms, around to Mrs. Forsythe’s room including the art room.
It doesn’t seem possible but I’ve been at Prairie Hill for 20
years now. When I began teaching here in
the fall of 1989, it was the first time the fifth grade consisted of two classrooms. Prairie Hill only had 277 students at that
time. Now we have 3 to 4 classes per
grade and 716 students. We are the
picture of change.
I used to explain to family and
friends that Prairie Hill was like a private-public school. It had high standards in its beginning and
continues to do so. Prairie Hill has an
“Old School” climate and expectations with “New School” methods. When I started teaching in 1989, I was closer
to the students in age than I was to the nearest teacher. My wife, Cindy, was hired 2 years later as
the Junior High English teacher and taught here for 6 years before our son Todd
and later our daughter Jodi were born.
The changes in staff over the years reflect the district and where we
are today. Once upon a time and over the
years our staff has been (Are you ready for this?): Allen, Altoff, Bainter,
Baylor, Bell, Brusven, Burns, Courtright, Conkling, DeRoos, Eversole, Fleury,
Freedlund, Geiger, Goers, Grimes, Gugliuzza, Gurnett, Hammond, Hanson, Heckle,
Hellbusch, Herro, Hodowanic, Hooper, Johnson, Kaletsch, Landin, Lewis, London,
Maloney, Miller, Miner, Pizzoloto, Redisi, Rhines, Schafman, Schnabel,
Shillington, Shippee, Short, Smirnov, Sole, Strothoff, and Zika (all without
classroom aids). We’ve had Mr. Fenrick,
Mr. Finlen and Mrs. Hobson as administrators.
Some of these staff member were only here a short time and others spent
their entire working lives in this building.
These graduates sitting here right now have what they have because of these
people I’ve mentioned. For you see,
indirect influence directly affects the next generation of teachers, staff and
students through the standards set and the legacy left. The Prairie Hill Blue Devil tradition is
bigger than ourselves. Now our school is
being led by Anderson, Andrews, Ball, Booth, Burk, Butson, Carroll,
Christofferson, Colwell, Coomer, Davenport, Duda [Books], Eibergen, Forsythe,
Froman, Furmanek, Gregoire, Grygiel, Hall, Hand, Hatfield, Hill (who’s dad and
uncle used to ice skate down Dry Run Creek as students just to get to this
school), Houghton, Johnson (squared), Jorgensen, Julian, Keilback [Stallman],
Kraus, Lee, Leonard, Long [Rogers], Matthewson, Michowski, Noorlag, O’Conner,
Pickel, Rayment, Reynolds, Rogers, Sage, Sand, Stubbe, Wagner, Wallyn,
Wickline, Williams, Wyatt, Zdeb and 24 paraprofessional, lunchroom aids and
cooks… Just to name a few. Our administrators are Mr. Rehl, Mr. Michowski
and Mr. Heiar. That’s quite a list. That’s a lot of people who directly invest in
the students of Prairie Hill School…your children. That’s quite a change from the days of a one
room school house!
Those of you who are still tracking
with me probably noticed that I purposely left out a few teachers. See, I’ve always got you thinking! In this case, you’re wondering “Why?” I left out those who I’ve team-taught with
over the years in fifth grade. For my
first three years I taught with Mrs. Jury who had been here for twenty some
years herself before she retired. She
had been a nun and taught in a Catholic School (once with a class close to 50
students) before coming here to Prairie Hill.
She was classic “Old School”, and I’m better having taught with
her. For one year I taught with Mrs.
Ciciora before she went to first grade.
I had already taught and coached both of her sons by that time and
respected both her and her expectations.
For the last sixteen years Mrs. Partlow and I have taught together. We watch out for each other and finish each other’s
sentences. She is a “gift giver” and
people appreciate that. For the last ten
years (8 of those in the fifth grade) I’ve also taught with Mrs. McIlwain when
we went to three classes. She has an
easy laugh, is a scheduling magician and has the gift of leadership. Together Mrs. Partlow, Mrs. McIlwain and I along
with our teacher’s aide, Miss Sheriff, have become a great team – blending our
different talents through each year’s changes.
We take our students from point A to point B by the end of the school
year and have them ready for junior high…if the parents and students just stick
with us long enough…even if we have to drag them along kicking and screaming
(I’m talking about the students there, not necessarily the parents : ). Nobody ever said change was easy.
But wait Mr. Rhines you’re saying to
yourself…there’s more. You missed a few
teachers. Oh yeah, that’s right. How could I forget? I’m glad you reminded me. I’ve jokingly said that once you make it into
the top five on the seniority list you should be eligible for early retirement,
but in reality I love what I do and wouldn’t want to change that…even at this
point in the year with the students figuratively bouncing of the walls. Each class and group of students is
different. Similarities exist but each
is unique and that’s the challenge. Four
teachers, who have been here at ole PHS for more years than me, know that
better than anybody. Mrs. Titterton has
been here for 34 years teaching fourth grade along with other grades in years
past. She has many good stories of
Prairie Hill’s changes. Mr. Thorpe has
been here for 32 years doing an excellent job teaching P.E., and is both
respected and adaptable to all kinds of situations put upon him. Mrs. Olstead, our speech teacher, has been
here for 24.3 years and has taught in everything from a classroom to a broom
closet, wherever there was space that particular year. Mrs. Norris, one of our kindergarten teachers,
starts off this whole educational process that leads up to the 8th
grade graduation. She has been here for 19+
years. For these teachers to invest this
many years it takes fortitude, a lot of prayer, patience and a love for what
you do. Let’s give it up for those
teachers! They have seen a lot of change
here at Prairie Hill over the years. All
professions require time and effort. To
do them well you need a passion for what you do. With teaching you also add in your heart and
life.
And so if you’re struggling to keep
pace, the theme is “Change.” We’ve
covered the beginning of time, when moccasined feet walked our prairies, to the
middle era where the community changed and grew and modernized, to the
present. Think of the things that have
changed that we as adults probably don’t even realized or pay attention
to. When I started we still clapped
erasers for the chalkboards, and you could still show films on reel to reel
movie projectors…and that was only twenty years ago. Does anyone out there still remember the
Apple II computers and Basic programming?
Graduates, along life’s journey you will encounter a lot of
changes. Some changes will be good, and
some will be difficult. Some changes
will be the result of your decisions.
Some changes you have no control over what-so-ever. The Prairie Hill community has grown and
changed and expanded. Next year we will
birth a new school into our district.
I’m choosing to liken it to what I used to say about our Prairie Hill JV
& Varsity basketball teams, “Two squads, One team.” Next year Prairie Hill will be “Two schools, One
district.” How cool is it that this
year’s graduates end their Prairie Hill experience as the last class to go
through the first 9 years of their schooling under one roof? That is almost never heard of anymore!
Parents, when you think of your
little sons and daughters now sitting up here in their gowns; teachers, when
you remember this particular class in the midst of the many that you will have
in your careers; students, when you reflect back looking at pictures and videos
and talking with friends, remember that change was the one constant. Change is the one thing that happens hour by
hour, day by day, and year by year. Without
change there is no adventure and there is no excitement. Life without change can become mundane,
stressful and boring. Although it can be
argued that too much change could do the same thing, I think the key component
is to remember the traditions, and see the bigger picture that got you to where
you are at. That’s what I’ve had to
learn along life’s Way. Listen, I’m a
Northern Michigan boy transplanted into Illinois…so I’ve had to learn this area’s
history and hopefully you have a small grasp of it now too. The Native American Lakota tribe had a saying
that said, “A people without history, is like wind on the buffalo grass.” We need to make sure we put worthiness and
respect into the changes and history that our community and students have been
a part of.
As you prepare for Hononegah, or the
high school of your choosing, embrace the change. It’s not always easy, but it’s definitely
interesting. Graduates, remember the
quote I gave you in fifth grade that said, “Pony Up!” I think I was miss-quoted by a few of you in
this year’s yearbook as you thought it was, “Suck it up.” I probably did say that from time to time,
but wanting to take a positive spin on the whole concept I said, “Pony Up” more
often. In other words, as you move on
from Prairie Hill it’s time to climb into that saddle, take a deep breath and
begin riding. That’s when you begin living. As I’ve said before, that’s not always
easy. Life is tough. Change is tough, but history shows us that
who we are and what we do becomes our destiny.
Let me say that again. History
shows us that who we are and what we do becomes our destiny. Thank you graduates for the experiences and
memories that you have left us with over these past nine years. Carry the tools, concepts, and the Prairie
Hill tradition of working hard that we’ve instilled in you so that you can deal
with changes along life’s journey and we’ll see you… along The Way.
Mike Rhines
5th
Grade – Prairie Hill Teacher
6-2-09
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| PHS In The Mid 1990's - One Portable In The Back |
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| PHS With Two Portables Prior To The Elementary Wing That Was Added In 1996. Between The Original Four Room School That Was Built In 1959, And 1996, There Had Been Three Previous Additions. Notice In The Upper Left Hand Corner That The Willowbrook North Subdivision Hadn't Been Added Yet. |
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| Rockford Register Star - Friday, June 19, 2009 |
