Jeff Gordon

JEFF GORDON

45 years of teaching generations of O’Gorman Knights

Mr. Gordon is incredibly humble. Since announcing his retirement, he has been interviewed, celebrated and honored. Hundreds of cards have been mailed, the current student body has celebrated their time with him and alumni have poured out their memories. While he may not realize the importance of his role at O’Gorman, his impact on the thousands of students he had over his tenure is inspirational.

Jeff Gordon began his teaching career at O’Gorman in the fall of 1977 and has been an essential part of the school for the past 45 years. Mr. Gordon wore several hats at O’Gorman. Besides teaching history and psychology, he also served as audio visual coordinator, coached freshman football, gathered stats for varsity football, coached JV girl’s golf, organized the Quiz Bowl team and coached wrestling.

History became a love of Mr. Gordon’s because of a college professor who was able to teach the importance of the subject without directly pointing it out. Many of Mr. Gordon’s students would agree he became that teacher—the one who loves what he teachers and his love is contagious.

1988 graduate Tony Cady was a wrestler for O’G when Gordon was coach. “He was more than a coach and teacher. He was a great role model for myself and many others. To this day when things get tough, I’d ask myself: What would Coach Gordon say or do? [He] is the only one I’d run through a wall for, no questions asked.”

1983 graduate John Smedsrud shared what he thought: “Every school needs at least three Jeff Gordons!”

John McGreevy, who graduated in 1982, told us that Gordon’s attitude is what made him stand out at O’Gorman.

“His demeanor was excited but in control. His excitement for history was infectious. He was very excited about our taking the AP test and we prepared for it and learned a great deal for weeks. He was a tremendous teacher,” said McGreevy.

The start of Mr. Gordon’s career wasn’t without a few bumps in the road. Fresh out of college, he was turned down for the first two jobs he applied for before the then principal of O’G, Fr. Joe Wagner, asked him to grow a mustache to establish his maturity over the juniors and seniors he would be teaching. While this wasn’t Mr. Gordon’s first choice of appearance, it did lend itself in his favor when he took on the roll of bathroom monitor in the 1970s. Mr. Gordon’s classroom was across the hall from the boy’s bathroom and he remembers it being part of his job to “bust” the boys trying to smoke in the bathroom during breaks.

When technology moved to the forefront of the classroom, it was a little intimidating for some of the staff. Gordon was comforted by something he heard at a tech seminar for educators—that teachers would almost always have a student in the room that would know more. This collaboration between the students and himself was another reason students loved him, he wasn’t afraid to ask for help.

Many of the alumni in the late 90s and early 2000s will remember Mr. Gordon and his iconic neck pen.

“I think I started with the neck pen thing because for some unknown reason, I always liked having something around my neck; coaching whistle or a stopwatch in wrestling. I am not the most organized person and a neck pen always assured me I would have access to a pen,” he told us.

Gordon’s own children inspired him to remain a part of our community for over four decades.

“I had such a great feeling from O’Gorman early on. My kids had all gone through Christ the King and we had such a good experience there that we wanted them to attend O’Gorman. I thought if I stayed here and taught, then my kids would go to school here and that would be pretty cool,” he explained.

Dr. Tom Lorang, former superintendent and principal at O’Gorman High School, started his career at O’G around the same time. Gordon also attributes part of his longevity at O’G to him.

“He was always so good to me and a big reason why I stayed as long as I did,” he said.

All of his four children attended and graduated from O’Gorman, Dr. Lorang retired and Mr. Gordon stayed, proudly becoming a “lifer”. His dedication has truly changed the lives of many of his students and for that, we can never say thank you enough.