“Good morning class! My name is Mr. Sanders…I moved to Massachusetts from the State of Maryland just three months ago. I served in the United States Army for 23 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel. That makes me a real “Colonel Sanders”! Yup, just like Kentucky Fried Chicken. I know, it’s kind of funny, so go ahead and laugh…. Ok, that’s enough laughter, it’s time to get serious about education.”
The above narrative is how I addressed Foxborough Public School students at Foxborough High School, THE Ahern Middle School, as well as at THE Burrell, THE Igo, and THE Taylor Elementary Schools in September 2023 when I first walked into the classroom. I find it helps me bond with students (the laughter part), yet gets the point across not to try and get away with anything. BTW, why did I capitalize THE with many of the school names? Because the people in Foxborough put a THE in front of four of their five public schools (Foxborough High School got a bye). When I investigated, I found that the Chair of the Foxborough Schools Committee, a Mr. Richard Pearson, is a graduate of THE Ohio State University. See photo below…
Foxborough townies state that “we’ve always done it that way,” and do not credit Mr. Pearson, but being from Michigan, I’m not changing my story. (Since this story is about education, you may ask why does the Buckeye Nation refer to OSU as THE Ohio State University. Well, it had something to do with a legal case between OSU and Ohio University that OSU won. That’s more than I want to know, I’m from Michigan and I don’t care. (But I still love Woody Hayes (See my earlier story about Woody, CK#9))
This real Colonel Sanders loves interacting with the future leaders of the best team in the world, America. (for context, go back and read my previous story, CK#31 – Serendipity on Steroids (SoS#5) – The Football Miracles of 2023!) (For the record, there are two different ranks that have the word “Colonel” in it. One is “Lieutenant Colonel” and the other is just plain “Colonel,” which is sometimes referred to as a “full bird colonel” which reflects the symbol worn on the military uniform. While I’m at it, for the millions of you reading this article, the entry level officer rank for army officers is second lieutenant. Next up the line is first lieutenant, followed by captain, major, and then lieutenant colonel. After lieutenant colonel comes colonel, brigadier general (one-star), major general (two-star), lieutenant general (3-star), and then general (4-star). There have been a few 5-star generals over history). (Editor’s note: While I was a West Point cadet, I roomed with two cadets who eventually made it to the rank of lieutenant general while in the army. One, LTG Frank Helmick, oversaw the overall operation that captured Saddam Hussein and the other, LTG Guy Swan, served for a period as the commander of the Military District of Washington and as part of his duties (and honor) was escorting Mrs. Ford at President Gerald Ford’s funeral service. I kiddingly refer to myself as the “General Mentor” and really wonder how many West Pointers can honestly say they roomed with TWO general officers, let alone three-star generals! For those of you who like to call me “Colonel,” do not ask me why I did not make the rank of general officer. Read my other blog stories and you’ll find your answer!
Back to the classroom… my love of teaching was triggered by a man who had a huge impact on me, a gentleman by the name of P. Michael Halstead (I call him Mike today, but Mr. Halstead for many years). Mr. Halstead was my American History teacher in eighth grade and then my basketball coach in ninth grade at Levey Junior High School where I grew up in Southfield, Michigan. Mr. Halstead was the toughest, fairest coach I have ever played for in my entire life. He was a big proponent of physical conditioning, kind of like Vince Lombardi from the Green Bay Packers. Mr. Halstead was too tough for many people as we only had a total of seven (yes, that’s a “7”) people on our basketball team. We were in great shape! Importantly for me, it was the discipline and devotion to teamwork that I learned from Mr. Halstead that prepared me both mentally and physically for the challenges I would face as a cadet at West Point.
My substitute teaching experience began in the State of Maryland. During the job interview, the HR Director asked me, “Joe, where do you prefer to teach?” I replied, “You put me where nobody else wants to go. After 23 years of military service, if I cannot handle a classroom of kids, our whole country is in trouble!” I started out teaching in all the schools (Kindergarten through 12th grade), but shortly after starting I received a request from that same HR Director to work as a “permanent substitute teacher” at the middle school. He said we needed some “leadership help” there and I soon learned that the below depiction of schoolteachers was fairly accurate:
When you observe the “Middle School” teacher in the above photo, you have an idea of how I had to act in the very first hour of my first day of my “permanent substitute” role at the middle school (which will remain nameless). I faced my most serious leadership challenge of my teaching career to date (which includes three years of university teaching as an assistant professor) on that fateful day in April 2023. Allow me to set the scene:
April 13, 2023 – The school secretary had just delivered a list of some 10 names of students who were not allowed to go to the bathroom unescorted. Apparently, they were the troublemakers and would coordinate “meet-ups” that would lead to disturbances in the bathrooms, common areas, etc. I was told that if one of the students asked permission to go to the bathroom, I was to call the front office where a school employee would be dispatched to accompany to and from the latrine (Yup, I said latrine and not bathroom as this is about to turn into a military-like confrontation). My first period was a class full of cocky eighth graders including one female who we will call Stella (whose name has been changed to protect the guilty) whose name appeared on the “No bathroom solo” list. I do not believe Stella had ever been told the word “NO” in her entire life prior to meeting the Colonel. The fun and games began when, just eight minutes after I got the list of names of troublemakers, Stella started walking towards the hallway door. I asked Stella where she was going and she mentioned the bathroom. When I reminded her of the escort rule that applied to her and that she wasn’t allowed to go alone, she said, “Oh, yeah I am going alone, and you can’t stop me!” She had a 10-foot lead on me to the doorway. I instinctively ran to the doorway, as did she as she saw me moving. We arrived simultaneously and collided, with her almost landing in the trash receptacle. Shocked, she started screaming. “HE HIT ME, DID YOU VIDEO THIS? HE HIT ME!” All 21 other students had their phones out while I defended the doorway like a drill sergeant, or Mr. Clean, with hands on hips. Stella was NOT getting through me to that hallway without an escort, nope not on my watch!
The school had an intercom system which was to be used to contact the office, but it was 20 feet from the door. Taking no chances of giving Stella a chance to escape, I guarded the doorway and commanded the remainder of the students, “Somebody push that intercom button, and then everybody be quite so I can talk.” Somebody pushed the button, the room became silent, and I asked the front office for an escort. The adult finally arrived and, as the escort was walking with Stella, I thanked the escort and said, “I do not want her back in my classroom.” Stella started screaming again, but she didn’t come back that day. The remainder of that class period went exceedingly well. Nobody else chose to challenge the Colonel that day. But wait, the best is yet to come…
The next day I was substituting in the band class during second period. Of course, guess who was in the class? Yup, Stella. When she walked in, our eyes met. She immediately did an about-face and tried to leave the band room when her classmates locked arms creating a barrier and would not let her out of the room. The moment of truth had arrived. We were there, staring into each other’s eyes from a range of less than ten feet with the entire class watching. You could hear a pin drop. Stella nervously grabbed a pencil and flung it towards the hung ceiling in an effort to stick it into the ceiling like a dart in a floor-facing dartboard (if there is such a thing). As the pencil bounced off the ceiling, the whole class, Stella included, locked eyes with me wondering what the Colonel would do in response. It had been just over 24 hours since my first encounter with Stella and I am sure that the story of that initial “introduction” had spread throughout the middle school like wildfire. I slowly gazed around the entire room, staring into each student’s eyes momentarily before ending up with a prolonged stare contest with Stella. I told her in a very deep, authoritative voice “Stella, you can’t stick more than one out of ten!”
Instantaneously, the entire class yelled “YEAH!” as Stella raced over to pick the pencil up off the ground. She started to hurriedly toss the pencil skyward, and she stuck the third shot, making her one for three. The students yelled “Colonel, you are going to lose this bet.” With baseless confidence I replied, “No Way, she can’t do it” … After several near misses, I ended up being correct…Stella stuck exactly 1 out of 10. I did a ceremonial walk out of the room and stated proudly, “See you kids aren’t as smart as you think you are!” That class went well that day. Everybody, including Stella did what they were supposed to do without incident. I had tamed the wild pony and order was restored. I am proud to say that Stella greeted me in the hall way every time we passed by each other every day after April 14 until I left Maryland in mid-May 2023. I actually remember one time during my final week in Maryland having a good “below the surface” conversation where she thanked me for “being there” for her. I hope to hear good things about her as she progresses through high school and beyond.
All I could think of was Mr. Halstead for setting the example for me…and I knew I had found my calling.
Still cutting my teeth as a new sub in Maryland, I quickly became frustrated that children would not stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning. I expressed this frustration to the Assistant Principal who explained to me that there had been a court case and legal judgment that teachers cannot “make” students stand and say the Pledge. As a retired army veteran, this did not sit well with me. I gave some thought to the issue and had an AHAH moment! It dawned on me that most students were used to saying “Thank you for your service” when I told them I had served in the military. The military is a respected entity amongst the youth much more now than in the 1970s. So, I decided to change my “Thank you for your Thank you” response to the following exchange:
Student: “Thank you for your service, Colonel Sanders!”
Colonel Sanders: “I REALLY appreciate your thanking me for my service, but I will believe it when I see you actually saying the Pledge of Allegiance, because that flag is why I served.”
It worked…students who got to know me stood up every time and said the Pledge in my classes. There is a saying that it is lot easier do drop a bomb and kill 100,000 people than it is to shoot one person between the eyes. In other words, close human interaction matters, so it is a lot harder to disrespect a flag that you put a face on.
So, let’s talk about substitute teaching in Foxborough, my new hometown. My first interaction with the administration in Foxborough occurred at THE Taylor School when I interviewed for a substitute teacher job with Mike Stanton, Principal at THE Taylor. We had a great interview in that for the first time in over three months I felt like Foxborough was going to be a great place to live. Mike asked me what I liked to do other than teach and that led me to volunteering at the Marilyn Rodman Performing Arts Center which I do on a regular basis. Mike also asked me where I wanted to teach and he got the same answer as the HR Director in Maryland. I knew I was going to like teaching in Foxborough when i saw the below poster on the wall at THE Taylor School where Mike Stanton served as principal:
My first days substitute teaching in Foxborough started with the previously mentioned words, “Good Morning class! My name is Mr. Sanders…I moved to Massachusetts from the State of Maryland just three months ago. I served in the United States Army for 23 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel. That makes me a real “Colonel Sanders”! Yup, just like Kentucky Fried Chicken. I know, it’s kind of funny, so go ahead and laugh…. Ok, that’s enough laughter, it’s time to get serious about education.”
My first day of classes set the tone for every day that followed…every student stood up and recited the Pledge of Allegiance and to this day I have never had to resort to my “I fought for that flag” line.
September begins football season, and as former football player and wanna-be coach, I began attending the Foxborough Warrior football games. I also attended some freshman and JV games as I had the time and wanted to feel part of the community of Foxborough. I began to feel at home in the schools with students, teachers, and administrators, at the athletic events, at the theatrical presentations and felt genuinely welcomed wherever I went.
Having the first every Army/Navy football game in Foxborough in December 2023 gave me a platform for sharing my cadet and army experiences leading up to America’s game. Simultaneously, the Foxborough High School Warrior football team was having a great season and ended up winning the Massachusetts Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium just one week prior to the Army/Navy game.
I was accepted by Foxborough and thoroughly enjoyed joining the students in the stands cheering loudly at the football, and later hockey, basketball, and girls’ basketball games. And, not to be outdone by the football team, the Foxborough High School Girls basketball team, state champs in 2023, successfully defended their title by winning the 2024 Massachusetts State Championship by soundly defeating every team in the state playoffs by more than 20 points! GO WARRIORS!!!
Substitute teaching in Foxborough, Massachusetts has brought me home to what I love to do the most…helping develop the future leadership of the greatest country in the world. I love the moments when I can have a serious one-on-one with a student where I can share part of my experience with them. I feel valued, and appreciate being treated with respect in Foxborough. The greatest reward for me is when I walk into any school in Foxborough only to hear “Good Morning/Afternoon Colonel Sanders” from numerous students, teachers, and administrators throughout the day.
I often say that Foxborough reminds me of Bedford Falls from the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and I feel as blessed to be here in Foxborough as George Bailey did in Bedford Falls.
I love this town and hope to be able to serve America right here in Foxborough for many years to come.
Thank You Foxborough!
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