Prelude: Lillian Hagen and her Rebel nuns. (in progress)

A kind of déjà vu has shadowed me since my first days in the classroom, a sensation that I'd done this before, a feeling that I'd had many lifetimes in the classroom and that I was about to embark on yet another rewarding journey to live again the remarkable life of a teacher.  But from where this déjà vu? If we go far enough back into my maternal ancestry, we find samurai populating our family history. They were more than warriors, they were teachers too.  This time around however a new cast of characters would populate my journey: exceptional, diverse and inspiring students and colleagues alike who would trigger my growth as a teacher, and help me become the descendent of samurai in the classroom.

ACT I:  First member of the cast, Lillian Hagen, principal of Foothill High School.

But first, an invitation. Read the Afterword before going further.  Why? You might ask. Because that's one of the concepts I wanted my students to learn... that not everything is linear, that not every lesson has to go from A to Z and that there are different ways of experiencing time. For more, go to Chronosphere 

Lillian Hagen had been a WAC but now she'd become a high school principal.  She had just hired three former nuns, Kathy Manulkin, Pat Berberich, and Jules Teissere.  A group of 375 nuns had just chosen to relinquish their vows to become a lay community rather than cave in to Cardinal McKintyre who mandated they continue to wear full length habits while teaching.  What sense was ther in teaching a class of kindergarteners on the floor in a full length habit? They needed more freedom to do the work that needed doing with those who "didn't have".  Since they had chosen to leave their Sacred Heart Community, the three were hired to teacj   ”At Risk” students expelled from the other high schools in Pasadena.

Click HERE for the TRAILER

Kathy and Pat would be my earliest images of teaching excellence founded on what I’ve come to call “The Farthest Reaches of Teaching.”  That was 50 years ago... What if I could find them after all these years? (Scroll down to the video at the bottom of this page.)

Together, 375 nuns took independent action and began, among other things, wearing "civilian" clothing to school.  Their Cardinal, unwavering, ordered them back into their traditional habits... "or else."  They were dedicated, energetic, independent thinking young nuns, but they would not abide by the Cardinal's directive. The "or else" soon found a clear definition.  "Wear your Habits, or leave." A catholic version of "My way or the highway.” Determined, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary held on to their principles and voluntarily left the archdiocese becoming an independent lay community. (list other important reasons here). A grave loss for education in the Catholic church, but a windfall for Foothill High School in Pasadena where three of those dedicated sisters, Kathy Manulkin, Pat Burburich and Jule Tessere continued their mission to "create community, work as advocates for the marginalized, and campaign for social and economic justice and peace . . ."   

After leaving Kathy was quickly hired as a teacher aide by Principal Lillian Hagan at Foothill Continuation High School in Pasadena. Encouraged by Lillian to get a California Teaching Credential, Kathy was soon a fully credentialed teacher working with “at risk” students at Foothill High. These were kids who had been expelled from the other Pasadena High Schools.  So happy was Lillian with her new teacher, she asked Kathy if she knew of other's who might be interested in teaching. Lillian soon hired both Pat Berberich and Jule Tesierre.   

Ten years earlier, I had been “expelled” out of my 5th grade catechism class for asking too many questions and other reasons similar to the those of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. But that’s another story for another chapter.   (relate to kids who get in trouble in school: The Chucky Thomas story.)

I began my career as a teacher aide for Kathy. Today I realize just how much she and Pat influenced my work as an educator and advocate for the marginalized and underserved public school students, hungry for social and economic justice. Someday, I will find a way to contact them, and tell them that their humanistic influence was the brightest beginning to my 39 year career as a teacher. I wanted to teach, I wanted to inspire students the way they did.

Pinned on Kathy’s classroom walls were posters splashed in bright colors, Dillan, other pop stars and three by Sister Corita Kent, one read:

“Who you are
Speaks speaks so loudy
People can’t hear
what you say.”

I admired these former nuns for taking a stand against the out of date  educational views of Cardinal McIntyre. Together their actions spoke loudly, inspired me as a  first year teacher and painted a magnificent landscape for my future as an educator. 

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Kathy and Pat were two of the five most important early influences of my teaching career.  After 50 years I located Kathy Manulkin, and Pat Berberich who together framed my earliest moments in the classroom.  My students over the following 39 years would be the beneficiaries of their wisdom.  Here is a recording of our second chat (the first was not recorded)          Important influences, Lillian Hagan, Greta Pruitt, Jim Compeau.

Video #1 Pat recalls Saint James Community as a response to: What was the source that inspired your student centered teaching?

What good fortune... starting my teaching career in the company of such self-actualized human beings.

1969 was a very good year, but there was more about to unfold. Something that would shape the scope of education across the entire nation. His name was Manuel Real.