40 years later, some things are still the same
One could say there have been many changes in the past 40 years. There is even a Facebook post going around that reads “Friends don’t tell friends 1980 was 40 years ago.”
For those of you who do remember the ‘80s, chances are you may have played Tetris or Pac-man or Super Mario Brothers, or know someone who did. You may remember listening to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” or Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” and maybe even on your Walkman cassette player. The 1980s brought us the mullet, slap bracelets, leg warmers and big hair.
If you were in school in the ‘80s, you may have been wearing Air Jordans, carrying your Trapper Keeper and playing with your Rubik’s Cube. You also may have met a new teacher by the name of Gene Skirvin.
Some of the things mentioned above have come and gone with the times. Some, you’ll still see today, and Gene is one of them.
“I’ve been teaching for 40 years,” Skirvin said, “the last 24 of them at Plymouth.”
Skirvin starting teaching high school at Madison Grant in 1981, where he spent two years.
“After that, I went to Knox and I was there 14 years,” he said. And at those three schools, he also coached.
He is currently a Business and gym class teacher. He has been advisor to Business Professionals of America for many of those 40 years. He is also active in LEAD, DARE and SADD. “I’ve been involved in LEAD a little longer than BPA,” he said. “I just want to help kids understand you can
live and alcohol and drug-free life.”
“That’s one of the highlights of my career,” Skirvin said. “I just sit back and look at my white board. Kids have given me little things connected with them in some way. I have a folder full of notes that kids have written me or of different things that have happened. I’ve got a coconut sitting up there from a student that whenever she would walk in I’d say, ‘Hey, how ya doing today, trouble,’ and when she graduated, she gave me that coconut that says ‘hey trouble’ on it.”
In 40 years, much has changed. “One, I started using a chalkboard to present to students,” he said, “then a white board, to using a computer and a projector. That’s been a huge change in how you present to kids.”
Then, forward to 2020 where Zoom classrooms helped keep kids engaged during the Coronavirus pandemic. “Then we started doing it online,” Skirvin said. “This year (2020-21) has been an extreme challenge because when we did come back, we had students do both, zoom and in person. You’ve got to log on so the virtual students could see it, and then present to the students in the classroom as well.”
Skirvin said, “When I started, if we wanted kids to take notes, I’d have to write it out. Now, I can present a video or give them a link to a website — that’s probably the biggest changes in how as a teacher I present, let alone how I grade. I can remember the date that grades were due and you’d meet all the teachers in the cafeteria and fight over the report cards to get the grades on those cards.”
Teaching 40 years, Skirvin said that had he not changed schools, he would surely have grandkids of his first students by now, but has had several second generations cross his path. “I’ve had many students in class here in the last few years who I also had their parents,” he said.
Coaching has always been a passion for Skirvin. “Of course, I love the game of football. I played in college at the University of Indianapolis. I wanted to continue to do that, but I’ve coached baseball and I’ve coached basketball. I’ve done those as well as football.”
In college, Skirvin initially wanted to do something in business. “After college, I really wanted to work with people,” he said. Deciding to share his expertise in business, what better way to do that then education. “I just can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Now that Skirvin’s three children have grown – one making him a first-time grandpa recently – what does he plan to do with his spare time outside of football season? “Well when we had kids in school, we were chasing them around to their events and stuff, and now they’re grown. But on my mom’s side, my great-grandparents had a farm that has a little pond. I sit and fish in that pond, that sits in the middle of a hay field. It’s out in the open and I just really enjoy that.”
Skirvin is married to Kelly, and they have raised three sons: Hayden, Evan and Payton, and now look forward to the “grandpa life” with the newest addition, baby Elijah James, born May 25 to Evan and his wife Kayla.