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Over the Years |
A SPECIAL TRIBUTE
Reliving memories, Tutt visits HIS second-grade teacher (from 1970-'71)!
Mr. Tutt goes Davenport to reunite with his teacher after a 26-year absence.
Mr. Tutt goes Davenport to reunite with his teacher after a 26-year absence.
After school on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, Mr. Tutt left his classroom at Hanawalt for his Iowa hometown of Davenport to meet up with his teacher, Mr. Walker. The following excerpt was taken from a post that evening from Mr. Tutt's Facebook page:
"I'm at the Quad City Airport, anxiously awaiting the arrival of MY second grade teacher, Mr. Walker, as he returns on an "Honor Flight" of World War II veterans from the Quad Cities area.
"I stayed in touch with Mr. Walker all the way through college. Yet I've not seen him in 25 years. He retired in 1989, and is now 91 years young. Mr. Walker moved to Florida in his retirement, and just moved back to Davenport a year ago with his daughter, Julie Harrington. She found me via Facebook, because he kept asking about me.
"I love this man so much, as he took in a shy, nerdy, pudgy little second grader who had just moved to Iowa from Kentucky. In the spring of' 1971, as a second grader, I was leading a line at school, and I told him, "Mr. Walker, I want to be a teacher someday, just like you!"
"So, 44 years later, this second grade teacher is surprising his.second grade teacher by meeting him and his daughter at the airport. (She knows I'm coming, but I've never met her face-to-face.)
"I'm so excited, I'm already in tears as I stand here, in this crowd of 500-1000, waiting for them!"
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The plane, carrying veterans and volunteers who escorted them, arrived at the Quad City Airport at around 10:45 Thursday night, on Sept. 24. The first two to leave the plane were two active duty soldiers carrying U.S. flags to commemorate those who had fallen in combat, and those who have died since.
Mr. Walker was immediately behind those two soldiers, as he was the first veteran in line. Even though there were between 500-1,000 people at the airport waiting to greet the vets, I managed to work my way up to the front of the crowd.
When Mr. Walker passed by, I yelled, "THAT'S MY TEACHER!!! I'm so proud of you Mr. Walker!" He was being escorted in a wheelchair by his daughter. The look in his eyes when we saw each other made the trip worthwhile! I broke through the line to give him and his daughter a hug, and best of all, they wanted me to join them leading the procession of veterans as we worked our way through the crowd.
I was the proudest student any teacher could have had that night, walking at his side, as hundreds applauded him.
We talked for about half an hour that night, then met again the next morning and conversed for hours. His memory amazed me. We laughed, we talked about how schools have changed - for the better and for the worse, how they stayed the same... but I broke down when he remembered me telling him - when I was helping him out after school one day, that it was hard being so different from others at school. I was a year younger, as I skipped a grade, and I was made aware of racial prejudice in Iowa as I heard the "n" word for the first time from white kids, then some black classmates teased me for "sounding white". Mr. Walker was and integral part of taking my insecurities, and turning them into badges of honor.... I was a pudgy, smart, black kid, who sounded white, yet liked himself. And that confidence led to me making some great lasting friendships... Those of you who know me well, know that establishing a genuine working relationship or rapport with students and parents, even if it involves some tough love, is the REAL key to developing student success. He, and my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Kaisen, modeled that style of teaching perfectly.
THANK YOU, MR. WALKER for helping guide me to be the person and teacher I am today!
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EPILOGUE: I'm SO glad that I got to see Mr. Walker in this visit... He passed away to natural causes seven months after our visit. He was 92, and survived by one daughter (Julie), one granddaughter, two great-grandkids, and many friends of whom he thought the world.
"I'm at the Quad City Airport, anxiously awaiting the arrival of MY second grade teacher, Mr. Walker, as he returns on an "Honor Flight" of World War II veterans from the Quad Cities area.
"I stayed in touch with Mr. Walker all the way through college. Yet I've not seen him in 25 years. He retired in 1989, and is now 91 years young. Mr. Walker moved to Florida in his retirement, and just moved back to Davenport a year ago with his daughter, Julie Harrington. She found me via Facebook, because he kept asking about me.
"I love this man so much, as he took in a shy, nerdy, pudgy little second grader who had just moved to Iowa from Kentucky. In the spring of' 1971, as a second grader, I was leading a line at school, and I told him, "Mr. Walker, I want to be a teacher someday, just like you!"
"So, 44 years later, this second grade teacher is surprising his.second grade teacher by meeting him and his daughter at the airport. (She knows I'm coming, but I've never met her face-to-face.)
"I'm so excited, I'm already in tears as I stand here, in this crowd of 500-1000, waiting for them!"
-----------------------
The plane, carrying veterans and volunteers who escorted them, arrived at the Quad City Airport at around 10:45 Thursday night, on Sept. 24. The first two to leave the plane were two active duty soldiers carrying U.S. flags to commemorate those who had fallen in combat, and those who have died since.
Mr. Walker was immediately behind those two soldiers, as he was the first veteran in line. Even though there were between 500-1,000 people at the airport waiting to greet the vets, I managed to work my way up to the front of the crowd.
When Mr. Walker passed by, I yelled, "THAT'S MY TEACHER!!! I'm so proud of you Mr. Walker!" He was being escorted in a wheelchair by his daughter. The look in his eyes when we saw each other made the trip worthwhile! I broke through the line to give him and his daughter a hug, and best of all, they wanted me to join them leading the procession of veterans as we worked our way through the crowd.
I was the proudest student any teacher could have had that night, walking at his side, as hundreds applauded him.
We talked for about half an hour that night, then met again the next morning and conversed for hours. His memory amazed me. We laughed, we talked about how schools have changed - for the better and for the worse, how they stayed the same... but I broke down when he remembered me telling him - when I was helping him out after school one day, that it was hard being so different from others at school. I was a year younger, as I skipped a grade, and I was made aware of racial prejudice in Iowa as I heard the "n" word for the first time from white kids, then some black classmates teased me for "sounding white". Mr. Walker was and integral part of taking my insecurities, and turning them into badges of honor.... I was a pudgy, smart, black kid, who sounded white, yet liked himself. And that confidence led to me making some great lasting friendships... Those of you who know me well, know that establishing a genuine working relationship or rapport with students and parents, even if it involves some tough love, is the REAL key to developing student success. He, and my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Kaisen, modeled that style of teaching perfectly.
THANK YOU, MR. WALKER for helping guide me to be the person and teacher I am today!
----------------------------------
EPILOGUE: I'm SO glad that I got to see Mr. Walker in this visit... He passed away to natural causes seven months after our visit. He was 92, and survived by one daughter (Julie), one granddaughter, two great-grandkids, and many friends of whom he thought the world.