Page 45 - Southern Oregon Magazine Fall 2022

James Collier

a man with a big heart

steve boyarsky jerry hagstrom

Q. YOU TAUGHT HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH FOR 35 YEARS. survey classes. We had two years of nine week-long quarterly electives.
WHERE DID YOU TEACH? I taught “Shakespeare and the Dirty Duck.” The Dirty Duck is the tav-
ern where Shakespeare used to go drink with his buddies in London.
JIM: Delano, California, which is 30 miles north of Bakersfield on Another class was “Eerie and Mysterious.” That's about Dracula,
Highway 99. Also, I taught in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, three years Frankenstein, gothic novels, all that kind of spooky stuff. One elective
before that and one year in Los Angeles. Then there was the year I class was grammar. “Perspectives on Death” was a literature course on
worked at the Post Office. I took a year off from teaching; I needed to the universal theme about our common spirit. The kids called it “death
recuperate. and dying.”

Q. WERE MANY OF THE STUDENT THAT YOU TAUGHT IN Q. WHAT DID YOU LOVE ABOUT TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL
DELANO HISPANIC? STUDENTS?

JIM: Oh, yes. More and more the longer I was there. The Anglos JIM: I thought that I could stay young forever. Dick Clark of American
moved to cities like Bakersfield, Fresno, LA, all over the place. Picking Bandstand was called the eternal teenager. He hung around with the
fruit was the primary occupation. My student’s parents picked grapes; kids and their music of the period, and therefore it kept him youthful
table grapes were the big product. It was such a different culture, not in his focus on life. That's what I wanted to do. I love teaching and I love
one I was familiar with. I encouraged the Hispanic kids to get all the teenagers.
education they could. They didn't want to be picking grapes. It’s too
backbreaking and hot with bugs and pesticides. Many of my students
realized education would help them get a happier and more comfort-
able life. Therefore, they strived to get good grades and work toward Q. IF THEY GAVE YOU YOUTHFULNESS, WHAT DID YOU
their future. It was a great learning experience, for me, being in a GIVE TO THEM?
different culture than Des Moines, Iowa. I taught kids to enjoy school.
They wanted to come to my class. JIM: Camaraderie and learning, in a fun way. I focused on making
my classes palatable, keeping them interesting and fun. I was known as
the fun teacher; maybe they were expecting to be entertained. One of
my favorite units was the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar in sophomore
Q. WHAT WAS HIGH SCHOOL LIKE FOR YOU? year. In the play, Caesar was stabbed 40 times. So, one day I was Caesar
and wore a white sheet with little dots on the sheet. Each dot had a
JIM: I loved school. I'd go to school sick. I wanted to be a teacher packet of fake blood behind it. I had a theater knife with a retractable
because I was very happy with the school environment. Summer vaca- blade. Students got to stab Caesar and make a bloody mess. We were
tions and everything about school had a strong appeal to me. I loved the talk of the school that day. “Did you hear about the teacher that got
to read, that's why I wanted to major in English. I was an avid reader. stabbed in class?” Teaching was a great career.
I didn't do sports. I curled up in the chair in my room and read book
after book after book.
Q. WERE YOU INVOLVED WITH OREGON SHAKESPEARE
FESTIVAL AS A TEACHER?
Q. WERE YOUR ENGLISH CLASSES MOSTLY REVOLVING
AROUND LITERATURE? JIM: I was involved in several teacher workshops at OSF. We had
meetings, discussed the plays, learned background information, met
JIM: I taught literature, grammar, and expository writing, mostly in the directors, and shared lesson plans. I fell in love with the place the

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