10 minute read
Fireside Chat with Mike Collins & Paul Sanborn
As an alum of Devon Prep if you’re reading this, you know who Mr. Mike Collins is, and you likely had him in one of the many history courses he taught over the years. No doubt you have a Collins story or two of your own - maybe he booted you from class, or threatened you if your AP score wasn’t high enough, or told a joke that made you fall out of your desk. We sat down with him and uncovered some great stories, but do yourself a favor and come back to campus, invite him to your reunion, do whatever you need to get your own conversation with the man, the myth, the legend: Mr. Michael Collins.
My favorite teacher was my father, John Collins, he taught English, and Marty Bowen, he taught English and History. My dad, I never knew what to call him in class. He said “Just call me Mr.Collins”.
Lessons? Nothing is easy. Well, college was easy. Graduate school was easy. But only because of the work I did at Devon. Stories? The only detention I got was from my father. He caught Bill Duffy and I smoking in what is now the locker room bathroom. We thought we were hiding it by blowing it up the air ducts but he somehow caught us! Then on the way home he bummed a cigarette off me. One other story, in the room that is now the oratory [room 127], we had German class and on the back door (the closet door) we stenciled “Men”. And for the first half of the year Bill Duffy used the closet during class as a men’s room. We got bored that he would just stay there for 15 minutes, so Duffy decided to add a little to his excursions to the men’s room by bringing a tape recorder with him and play a toilet flushing. We did that for a month. Then he decided to come out with his pants down bare-ass and tell father that there was no toilet paper left in the bathroom. At that point father discovered the ruse and grabbed his pointer and beat Duffy’s ass chasing him down the hall.
Q: Why did you come back to Devon to teach? What was the adjustment like from student to teacher?
Actually, the previous history teacher quit, and my dad offered me the job! It was all anaccident. I had plans to go to law school, in fact was already admitted into Villanova’s law school. When I got a call from my dad, in the summer saying the previous history teacher just quit and if you want a job you can teach history at Devon, and father needs an answer within a week. Seeing how my father sat at the kitchen table every night grading, I didn’t want to teach. Plus I knew how difficult it was to make ends meet on a teacher’s salary, but at that point I needed money. I decided I’d give it one year. Started teaching and I fell in love with it. The rest is history. The adjustment to teaching was a lot easier than how other teachers would find it. I had my father as a mentor and knew the culture of Devon. Plus I knew every trick in the book on how a student might cheat!
Q: What are some of the biggest changes you have seen over the years? What made you want to stay at Devon all this time? Most memorable teaching moment?
Technology is the biggest change. Students have access to information at their fingertips. When I was in grad school, I had to travel to John Hopkins and search through their archives for research. I would spend my Saturdays in Baltimore doing research, and now students can get all that information online. There is a downside to technology. I see students having difficulty concentrating for long periods of time. Students believe information should be accessed immediately. Reading 40 pages of a book for AP work is difficult for them. Also, texting has had an impact on students’ ability to write: spelling, capitalization, and grammar have all been impacted since students do not use them in their everyday language. What made me stay at Devon? That is easy, it never felt like work. My love for the school and passion for teaching, I never wanted to leave. There were many times I felt I was stealing my paycheck. One of my favorite moments as a teacher was underestimating what my students can achieve on AP exams. They always surprise the hell out of me. This isn’t a teaching moment, but for years I was the moderator of the Mock Trial team and I always enjoyed having cigars with the team after a win. I will never forget the look on Brandon Mitchell’s face after I changed his closing argument the night before he had to go to trial.
Q: What adjustments have you had to make as students’ needs have changed?
I haven’t made any adjustments to my teaching style. Students still use Blue Books, and I use a lot of red ink.
Q: What do you think you will miss most about teaching at Devon?
After teaching here for 50 years, I will miss the friends I have made on the faculty and the students. If you can’t teach at Devon then you shouldn’t be a teacher. Devon has the best students in the world. If you can’t teach here then you weren’t meant to teach.
Q: A piece of advice you want Devon alumni to know?
Love what you do and it won’t be work!
Paul J. Sanborn ‘64, otherwise identified as wolf6actual, is one of the most colorful and interesting faculty members Devon Prep has ever witnessed prowling its halls. It is generally agreed that this is due to some slippage in his prescribed medications. But that is a story for another time. Due to his fifty-four years of experience as a military intelligence analyst, historian, classroom teacher, coach and administrator in four public school districts and Devon Prep, successful competitor is cross country/ track/ road racing, and proprietor of Charing Cross Speaking, the wolfman has gathered many stories of limited interest. According to Kevin Mulholland, some of these stories (25%) are even true. Levity is not a natural feature of Mr. Sanborn’s personality. Life is meant to be suffered. Heavenly reward may come later. Loyalty however is integral to wolf6actual’s primary values. And since 1960, he has remained committed to the Devon Experience. Since we and he have reached the point of not knowing which end is up, the wolfman has decided to go abroad to learn at the feet of Zen masters residing in the Kremlin. Before we reach the end of his tenure at Devon this coming June, we posed a few questions to help preserve some of the wolfman’s perspectives on our school and his time spent with us.
Al Fernandez was our homeroom teacher for three years. He taught math. It took us two years to effectively communicate in the dialect of Devonese that he spoke. Eventually he became much more fluent in English and we became avid Devonese speakers. So, it turned out well. In the end, he married me to my wife and wound up working for the IRS as an auditor with Spanish-speaking American taxpayers in Philly. Marty Bowen taught English or Language Arts as we say today. We were inspired to read current and classical literature and explore the creativity of authors from around the World. Bela Kriegler was one of the first teachers we experienced who brought reality into the classroom. Unfortunately, for that, he was traded to the Methodists for two draft picks and an undisclosed bonus. On our first day as freshmen at Devon, a hurricane struck the Delaware Valley, flooding everything. That did not stop the Headmaster from bringing us all to the Chapel for Opening Liturgy. That pretty much sums up the high school experience of my class at Devon. Our school mascot was the Dukes which has morphed to today’s Tide. No comment necessary beyond stating the obvious...wolfpack is a better totem for young men learning to operate in groups harmoniously for the betterment of their society. Following the Europeanmodel, athletics were considered an afterthought and we had three sports at the time...Basketball, Cross Country and Track. It was the Devon parents who eventually convinced the Piarists to support the present “American Model” of sports as a vital part of one’s overall education.
Coats and ties every day for both teachers and students. Students stayed in the same classroom all day and teachers changed. Class periods lasted fifty minutes each, with a ten minute break outside in the courtyard between periods each day. Faculty were sent on sweeps between classes to insure everyone’s presence out in the elements (except in pouring rain). One reason I selected Devon was to be an athlete. I was determined to be one and Devon seemed to be the place. So, on the third day of classes, our biology teacher, Bob Farley, told us practice for Cross Country would begin on the following Monday. This is great, I thought, although I had at the time in my life no idea what Cross Country involved. But, being young, immortal and brilliant, I assumed it had something to do with the Devon Horse Show. Horseback riding over barriers. Calvary! I was wrong. Almost dead wrong. Infantry! I ran like the wind. In my first race, I came in so far behind on a street course around Devon Prep that the coach, team and opponents had all left when I came in the drive. Shortly after, in a meet with Conestoga, I finished ninety-third out of ninety-three. I would have placed further back had there been others in the race. But I stayed the course, as it were, and improved. The rest is history.
Q: What is different about Devon today, as compared to when you were a student here?
Devon Prep is a very different experience for students today as compared to the 1960’s. The dress code is more suited to the times and is more flexible. There are electives for students to select, based on their interests. No longer a one-size fits all proposition. A rotating schedule helps balance out the time each subject is taught during the school year. The internet has changed education a great deal. Not all of it is for the better but time moves on, and so must we. The curriculum is grounded more on current challenges and life experiences. It is something like Great Books Ideals on steroids played out in practical topics ripped from today’ headlines (on computer screens). The typical Devon student today is more worldly than we were sixty years ago. They know a lot more. We had to resort to National Geographic magazines to learn about some matters best left unsaid. These days, just a flip of the switch opens doors beyond anyone’s dreams from the ‘60’s. Or so I am told. Today the challenges are varied and demand our constant attention to rise above them. That’s what keeps me up at night.
Q: Do you have any reflections you wish to share with our Alumni?
Where you attended high school matters to all of us. It is where we laid the foundation for becoming adults. For better or worse, it is integral to who we are today. We cannot undo the past, but you can play a role in someone else’s future. It really does take a community to raise a child. Devon today offers many great opportunities to our young men to grow and mature through experiences in many areas. More likely than not, it is different from the Devon you experienced, even if you are out of high school for only a decade or so. Give us a chance. Come back and see for yourself our accomplishments and challenges. We need your support. We can use your knowledge and input. It’s a different Devon. A better one, I hope. We still have problems and we still have issues. But we are committed to deal with them in the new dynamic of a community preparing young men for a future still unfolding. Donate, mentor, preserve our educational dream that is Devon Prep.
-Wolf6actual
Fr. Geza Pazmany’s Journey
