Speaker 1: Hi there, Welcome. Welcome to Love Someone with De La La,
Speaker 1: my podcast where I get to talk about things that
Speaker 1: I love. I mean, I talk about things that I
Speaker 1: love on my radio show, but my radio show, I
Speaker 1: try to keep it focused on my listener, So the
Speaker 1: most of the content that you'll hear on my show
Speaker 1: at night is me asking questions and then my listeners
Speaker 1: telling their stories. But with this podcast, I get to
Speaker 1: explore topics and talk about things that I am passionate about.
Speaker 1: And the thing that I am most passionate about in
Speaker 1: the world is encouraging people to use the gifts, the talents,
Speaker 1: the skills, the resources that God has put in them.
Speaker 1: Then we go through life experiences that stretch us, that
Speaker 1: challenge us, that help us to become more empathetic, more understanding,
Speaker 1: more patient. And when you take all those things and
Speaker 1: put them together and then use that to change the
Speaker 1: world for good, that is the best thing in the
Speaker 1: whole world. And I think some of the people who
Speaker 1: do that best, or at least do it most consistently,
Speaker 1: are teachers, educators, teachers, principles administrators, the cook in the
Speaker 1: kitchen at the cafeteria, the crossing guard, the bus driver
Speaker 1: who is patient and doesn't lose their mind when kids
Speaker 1: are standing up and throwing spitballs. The people that work
Speaker 1: to help children to be the very best that they
Speaker 1: can be, to develop a love passion for learning, so
Speaker 1: that you're a lifelong learner, so you don't stop studying,
Speaker 1: so you delve into things, You ask questions, you're excited
Speaker 1: about learning about nature and seeing wildlife or wild berries
Speaker 1: or wild birds. Teachers that put that joy in a
Speaker 1: young person's heart to learn, to grow, to develop, Those
Speaker 1: are some of the most underappreciated people in our midst
Speaker 1: and so this podcast is all about teachers and educators
Speaker 1: and the support staff. This podcast is going to focus
Speaker 1: on the unsung heroes of our life. Before we talk
Speaker 1: to our first person, we want to salute and honor
Speaker 1: in this podcast. We're going to take a moment to
Speaker 1: say thank you to our sponsors, the people who make
Speaker 1: this podcast a possibility. It feels like summer, It still
Speaker 1: looks like summer, but that beautiful green lawn you have
Speaker 1: now doesn't stay that way unless you treat it well.
Speaker 1: With the Home Depot's wide selection of fall lawn care products,
Speaker 1: change your grass for the better and for the cold months.
Speaker 1: Ahead with products from Scots the Home Depot's garden department.
Speaker 1: My favorite part of the store is where you will
Speaker 1: find the right stuff and some very helpful people too.
Speaker 1: The Home Depot More saving, more doing. And so in
Speaker 1: this podcast, we are going to talk with people who
Speaker 1: are teachers and talk about teachers and educators and just
Speaker 1: honor them for the heroic work that they do with
Speaker 1: very little applause, and yet they do it. They show up.
Speaker 1: They don't just show up. Good teachers in current Bridge
Speaker 1: and they help and they care. They care about their students,
Speaker 1: They care about what's going on in their lives. When
Speaker 1: a child is sick or hurting, they care. And I
Speaker 1: have a lot of kids and a lot of them
Speaker 1: have special needs, and my kids have had some phenomenal teachers.
Speaker 1: In fact, going to try to get in touch with
Speaker 1: one and include him in this podcast because he has
Speaker 1: had a profound impact on three of my children who
Speaker 1: have had him in school. Him, mister Allan, Hey, how
Speaker 1: are you I'm good?
Speaker 2: How are you I'm great?
Speaker 1: Have you got like five minutes to talk to me?
Speaker 1: Maybe ten? About teaching? Yeah, So, since it's back to
Speaker 1: school time, our podcast this week is focusing on educators, teachers, principles,
Speaker 1: people who make a differen in the life of kids.
Speaker 1: And I said, you know, there is somebody that I
Speaker 1: didn't have as a teacher, but that my kids had
Speaker 1: as a teacher, who had a profound impact on their life.
Speaker 1: And so I wanted to call you and talk to
Speaker 1: you about teaching, about how you keep doing it when
Speaker 1: you get beat up so bad and yet you just
Speaker 1: keep giving. It's like the giving degree. Yeah. So you've
Speaker 1: been teaching, mister Allen choir music for how many years?
Speaker 2: I'm starting my thirty first year.
Speaker 1: Always music, always music.
Speaker 2: Yep. My first my first job was a K twelve
Speaker 2: music teacher. So I taught K six general music and
Speaker 2: then I had seven through twelve choir.
Speaker 1: Thirty one years. Yeah, and I know that the road
Speaker 1: has not always been well paved, not always, no, not always,
Speaker 1: some rough times, some bumps.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there have been definitely have been some bumps. But
Speaker 2: I'd say I would say the vast majority of my
Speaker 2: days are pretty darn good, and I look forward to
Speaker 2: getting to work every day. I don't think I've had
Speaker 2: many days in my thirty years of teaching where I
Speaker 2: was like, oh man, I'd rather be doing something else.
Speaker 2: I can't. I probably can't count that number on on
Speaker 2: one hand. It wouldn't get beyond one hand there for sure.
Speaker 2: I think sometimes, you know, we're kind of given that
Speaker 2: gift that we get to do what we love to
Speaker 2: do every day. And I don't think most people have that,
Speaker 2: but I think some people do. And that's the people
Speaker 2: that just kind of stick with it forever. I've thought
Speaker 2: at one point, you know, like what would I do.
Speaker 2: I've had that conversation with my wife too, but I
Speaker 2: don't know that I can come up with anything else.
Speaker 1: And what a great gift that is. How old were
Speaker 1: you when you knew that a music was going to
Speaker 1: be your thing and b that you had a gift
Speaker 1: for teaching young people?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, I mean I knew music. I wanted to
Speaker 2: do music from a pretty young age. I'd say maybe
Speaker 2: middle school. I started to really think about, you know,
Speaker 2: kind of career, like what would I want to do
Speaker 2: with my life? And at that point it was really,
Speaker 2: you know, I wanted to be a rock star. I
Speaker 2: wanted to be a performer, you know, And I did
Speaker 2: that a little bit as far as like playing you know,
Speaker 2: garage bands and stuff. And I had two music teachers
Speaker 2: in high school that really kind of changed the course
Speaker 2: of my life. Mister Ogrin was my first high school
Speaker 2: music teacher choir director, and then he left and Dean
Speaker 2: Sands was my next, and they both just influenced me
Speaker 2: in such a positive way, just encouraging me as a
Speaker 2: musician but also as a person like I just, yeah,
Speaker 2: they just really encouraged me as a human being. And
Speaker 2: when I saw what they did and how much passion
Speaker 2: they had and how much joy they had, I just thought,
Speaker 2: this is my thing. I just want to do this
Speaker 2: for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: And how lucky are you? How blood so you that
Speaker 1: the beautiful young woman that you took for a bride
Speaker 1: when you guys were kids. Your picture you look like
Speaker 1: you were maybe fifteen. I know you weren't, but that
Speaker 1: she supports that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she and my parents and my kids, my own
Speaker 2: personal kids, you know, have been huge supporters. My parents,
Speaker 2: I'm up until my dad got kind of sick and
Speaker 2: ended up passing away, But they would drive up from
Speaker 2: Oregon to come to my concerts that I was directing,
Speaker 2: even up here, so they'd drive up and see my concerts.
Speaker 2: And my wife is at everything, and my kids went
Speaker 2: through my program and still come back to Madrigal feast
Speaker 2: and stuff. So yeah, I've been super blessed to have
Speaker 2: a support system like that.
Speaker 1: For sure, you're not just a teacher, and I know
Speaker 1: you know that. You don't just teach music. You teach
Speaker 1: life lessons. You teach teamwork, you teach accountability, you teach
Speaker 1: being there for one another, you teach acceptance, you teach
Speaker 1: so much goodness while you're teaching the notes.
Speaker 2: I think that's one of the things that music really does,
Speaker 2: is it teaches us about life and and about how
Speaker 2: to be you know, how to love, and how to
Speaker 2: be passionate, and how to be accepting of lots of
Speaker 2: different things because we do lots of different genres of music.
Speaker 2: So that's an easy way to just talk about how
Speaker 2: everybody has value and importance and you know, the least
Speaker 2: talented person to the most talented person, we make up
Speaker 2: that a chemistry that comes from that makes up what
Speaker 2: are awesome and amazing you know, groups of people. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's it's hard. It's almost hard to put into words
Speaker 2: how important education is in that sense that that we
Speaker 2: have a chance to teach people. Curriculum to me is
Speaker 2: secondary to teaching kids just I don't know, I don't
Speaker 2: know as does that make sense?
Speaker 1: It makes perfect sense. And and you do both very
Speaker 1: very very well. I mean, you teach the curriculum very well.
Speaker 1: I got to stand in the audience and enjoy how
Speaker 1: many dozens of concerts that my kids participated in, and
Speaker 1: the notes that they would hit, and the madrigal feast
Speaker 1: and the productions they would put together in the Broadway
Speaker 1: show that you turn over to the kids and say, Okay,
Speaker 1: you want to do this, you want to put on
Speaker 1: Broadway show, You're going to do it. And they did it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: costuming and choreography, it's amazing, it is.
Speaker 2: It really is breathtaking to watch.
Speaker 1: And the creativity these kids have on a shoestring budget.
Speaker 1: You know, they go to the Goodwill or Salvation Army
Speaker 1: or whatever and they come back with these costumes that
Speaker 1: are just amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think one of the cool things about again
Speaker 2: about music, and I'm sure it's another you know, in
Speaker 2: other academic areas too, But for me to be able to,
Speaker 2: like you said, cut the kids loose, you know, teach
Speaker 2: them and give them tools and then be able to
Speaker 2: see them just take off and just you know, make
Speaker 2: it happen, and it is amazing to watch. I'm in
Speaker 2: the audience too for Broadway show, and I just am
Speaker 2: every year teared up and excited about just what they're
Speaker 2: pulling off is just amazing.
Speaker 1: I love Madrigal Feast. I didn't get to go. I
Speaker 1: don't think i've been the last two years. But if
Speaker 1: you do it this year, I'll be there. And I
Speaker 1: haven't missed a Broadway show in years. They're so good,
Speaker 1: so good. Well, I appreciate you. I appreciate what you
Speaker 1: mean to my daughter, what you meant to my son,
Speaker 1: what you meant to Bridget. I just I love your heart.
Speaker 1: I love your willingness to serve. I love that you coach.
Speaker 1: I love that you sacrifice your holidays and your summers
Speaker 1: and you're days off to pour into kids' lives. And
Speaker 1: like throwing a stone in a still pond, the ripples
Speaker 1: of your life have intersected with so many of us.
Speaker 2: I hope, so, I mean, I hope that when you know,
Speaker 2: when all of a sudden done, you know, they talk
Speaker 2: about leaving a legacy, and I just hope that you know,
Speaker 2: a lot of times, as I look at this thing
Speaker 2: and performances and the trophies are awesome, but I just
Speaker 2: want to look I want to look back on it
Speaker 2: and have kids say that they grew and they they
Speaker 2: learned and all that, but also that they, you know,
Speaker 2: just have a passion for life. Whether it's music or
Speaker 2: it's you know, theater, or it's you know, working as
Speaker 2: an engineer or being a parent, whatever it is, that
Speaker 2: they just have a passion for life and that you know,
Speaker 2: what we did in the choral program kind of helped that.
Speaker 1: Well. I want to thank you, all right.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, and I appreciate you as well.
Speaker 2: And you know your kids were you know, they leave
Speaker 2: an impact on me too. I've had thousands of kids
Speaker 2: go through the program and they all leave an impact.
Speaker 1: Mister Allen was such a huge inspiration to my kids,
Speaker 1: and I'm so glad he was available to chat. Next,
Speaker 1: I'm going to read a letter sent to me by
Speaker 1: a young man named Travis. Travis is already discovered at
Speaker 1: the tender young age of six, something that took me
Speaker 1: many many more years to comprehend. I received an amazing
Speaker 1: letter from a young adult named Travis, and it touched
Speaker 1: my heart. So I wanted to share it with you.
Speaker 1: Travis writes, I dropped out of high school going against
Speaker 1: all I knew was right, and I regret it to
Speaker 1: this day. I told my teachers I would get a GED,
Speaker 1: but I never went and signed up. Well about a
Speaker 1: week ago, one of my teachers called me and told
Speaker 1: me to get ready because I was starting my GED
Speaker 1: classes on Monday. Never in a million years would I
Speaker 1: have expected a teacher to do that for me, after
Speaker 1: all the trouble I had caused them at school, and
Speaker 1: come to find out, all of my old teachers and
Speaker 1: the administration even paid for the classes I took. While
Speaker 1: listening to your show, I got to thinking about what
Speaker 1: you said. Teachers don't get enough credit for all that
Speaker 1: they do. So I want to play a song for
Speaker 1: all those teachers out there who change students' lives each
Speaker 1: and every day. I bet you still remember times when
Speaker 1: a teacher did something for you, and you, Delilah, have
Speaker 1: helped me to realize what a jerk I have been
Speaker 1: to many of my teachers when all they wanted to
Speaker 1: do was help. It seems a little ironic, but at sixteen,
Speaker 1: I'm writing this to you because I think I've grown
Speaker 1: up since I quit school, and I would give just
Speaker 1: about anything to go back. Thank you for all that
Speaker 1: you do from Travis. When we come back, I'm going
Speaker 1: to try and get a living legend from my hometown
Speaker 1: of Reid Sport, Oregon on the phone with me. But
Speaker 1: right now I want to give a minute of time
Speaker 1: to this very important message. I have been very, very
Speaker 1: very blessed to have some pretty amazing teachers, and I
Speaker 1: was so blessed to go to amazing schools when I
Speaker 1: was a kid growing up. I didn't recognize it at
Speaker 1: the time. I didn't know how fortunate I was. I
Speaker 1: lived in a little logging community, but we were fairly
Speaker 1: well off. Not we my family, but the community was
Speaker 1: very well off because the logging industry was booming, and
Speaker 1: so our schools were well funded. We were tiny town,
Speaker 1: less than four thousand people, and yet we had an
Speaker 1: amazing staff at our grade school, junior high high school.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, we had extracurricular activities that you wouldn't believe.
Speaker 1: We had a forestry program, we had an oceanography program,
Speaker 1: we had a boat. We had a home ac department
Speaker 1: that had like five kitchens in it, and we got
Speaker 1: to prepare food that we caught on the boat and
Speaker 1: then prepare it in the kitchens and then feed families
Speaker 1: to raise money for our oceanography program. We had kilns
Speaker 1: in our art classes, and we got to put on
Speaker 1: plays with sets and screens and lights and costumes. We
Speaker 1: had an amazing school where I grew up, and I
Speaker 1: didn't appreciate it. I didn't couldn't wait to get out
Speaker 1: of that little town. Had a chip on my shoulder
Speaker 1: a mile wide. Don't ask me why. I have no clue.
Speaker 1: But it was probably not until my twenties that I
Speaker 1: realized how blessed I was, how fortunate I was, how
Speaker 1: spoiled I was to grow up in such a tight
Speaker 1: knit community with so many wonderful people. Wonderful, wonderful people,
Speaker 1: and some of the best people in my life were
Speaker 1: teachers who poured their heart and soul into me.
Speaker 3: How are you?
Speaker 1: I got to tell you. I don't know if I
Speaker 1: can call you.
Speaker 3: Jim, Oh you can.
Speaker 1: I don't know, because it just it feels wrong.
Speaker 3: After I had those experiences with teachers, my experience is
Speaker 3: very same. It's very difficult, but we'll get over it, Okay.
Speaker 1: All right, I'll try, But to me well, forever and
Speaker 1: always either be mister Wells or coach Wells.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, those are amazing titles and I've enjoyed them,
Speaker 3: but yeah, we're past that. Jim is good, Okay, I'll try.
Speaker 1: Okay, mister Wells, see with your family. It's a double
Speaker 1: whammy because your wife, mary Anne was my eighth grade teacher, right.
Speaker 1: I had her for math and English and eighth grade,
Speaker 1: and then I had you the next year for social studies.
Speaker 1: So it's I can't say Mary Anne or Jim, it's
Speaker 1: mister missus Wells.
Speaker 3: H That is hard, I know.
Speaker 1: So I asked my sister Deanna, who's also my executive
Speaker 1: producer for my podcast, to reach out to you because
Speaker 1: we're doing this podcast about educators, administrators, teachers, the people
Speaker 1: that cook in the kitchen, the people that invest their
Speaker 1: heart and their time and their energy into helping children
Speaker 1: to learn. And while we were talking about it, Deanna said, man,
Speaker 1: remember mister Wells, Remember missus Wells. And we started remembering,
Speaker 1: and she said, you know what, we need to talk
Speaker 1: to them.
Speaker 3: Well, it's nice, that's great, honor.
Speaker 1: Well, how many years did you teach.
Speaker 3: Thirty five and your wife twenty eight.
Speaker 1: So between the two of you, Oh gosh, Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we just celebrated our sixtieth anniversary here this last August.
Speaker 3: So yeah, time goes by.
Speaker 1: And do you still look into each other with google
Speaker 1: eyes like you did when we were in school?
Speaker 3: I don't think so different?
Speaker 1: Better better better. The thing I remember about your wife
Speaker 1: was she always had a smile on her face.
Speaker 3: We need to have a lot more miles in this world.
Speaker 1: Even when she was really mad at us, really she
Speaker 1: would smile and she would say, I'm going to count
Speaker 1: three and you will sit down.
Speaker 3: That's great.
Speaker 1: So for our listeners who are listening to our podcast,
Speaker 1: and our podcast is called love Someone, And the whole
Speaker 1: focus of the reason I decided to do a podcast
Speaker 1: is because I want to inspire people to make the
Speaker 1: world a better place.
Speaker 3: Good, good for you, and wonderful.
Speaker 1: Goal And you and your family have done that for
Speaker 1: decades for our community where I grew up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, it's it's a lifestyle and a passion and
Speaker 3: something that's just us. I guess we have enjoyed every mile.
Speaker 1: Do you remember, Jim, the reason that you started teaching,
Speaker 1: Why you chose teaching as a professional.
Speaker 3: No. Number one reason I couldn't face three more years
Speaker 3: of law school.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's an honest admission.
Speaker 3: And after my first year teaching, I knew I was
Speaker 3: in the right place.
Speaker 1: Think about the number of lives that you and Mary
Speaker 1: Anne have.
Speaker 3: Impacted, well, you know, and they impacted me hugely too.
Speaker 1: But you didn't just teach. The thing that stands out
Speaker 1: in my mind when when I was in school was
Speaker 1: you and your wife didn't just teach math and English,
Speaker 1: and for me it was social studies. You taught me
Speaker 1: social studies and finance. I think I had you for finance,
Speaker 1: personal finance. You taught integrity, and you taught accountability.
Speaker 3: Those are very important.
Speaker 1: Like with the coaching, you were always insistent that even
Speaker 1: if you you know, couldn't play, if you were ineligible
Speaker 1: to play, you dressed down, you sat on the bench,
Speaker 1: you supported the team, you were a part of a team.
Speaker 1: And man, those are priceless.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the relationships that you build are just lifelong. Really,
Speaker 3: I've got I got to say that ninety percent of
Speaker 3: my best friends or my former students. I have many
Speaker 3: professional associates and stuff and we're friends, but really my
Speaker 3: deepest friendship are former students and former athletes that were students. Also,
Speaker 3: of course, but and this is the thing that a
Speaker 3: lot of people don't realize that you take these kids
Speaker 3: into your life and they're more than just students. I
Speaker 3: don't know, I'll get emotional here, but you become a
Speaker 3: father figures. Some kids don't have fathers, some kids don't
Speaker 3: have a family, and sometimes you can provide those needs.
Speaker 3: We served a lot of meals to former students, and
Speaker 3: they're just more than students. And I know teachers that
Speaker 3: elementary school teachers in their classroom, they have brought cereal
Speaker 3: and milk and cookies and things that kids need and
Speaker 3: out of their own pocket are always providing for kids.
Speaker 3: And maybe that's as important is what we taught.
Speaker 1: Now it's my turning to get emotional because I was
Speaker 1: thinking about some of the lessons that you and your
Speaker 1: wife taught when I was in school, and the one
Speaker 1: thing that came to my mind was Carrie Gift.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, yeah, yeah, been a lot of Carrie Gifts
Speaker 3: and others that had other needs.
Speaker 1: Carrie, he had a lot of special needs. Ye and
Speaker 1: you made him team captain or no, he was manager manager.
Speaker 1: You made him manager and he loved.
Speaker 3: It pretty better. And he was essential.
Speaker 1: He was essential and all of a sudden, there was
Speaker 1: a new respect for Carrie that was infectious. You giving
Speaker 1: him that responsibility and letting him shine, because he really
Speaker 1: did shine. It really did change the dynamic of his life.
Speaker 3: Kids that are picked on you need to help find
Speaker 3: find their spot it can shine.
Speaker 1: So if you had advice to give to somebody, a
Speaker 1: young person who is thinking of their future, trying to
Speaker 1: figure out what they want to do, where they want
Speaker 1: to go in life, what would be your words of wisdom?
Speaker 1: If they're thinking about maybe becoming.
Speaker 3: A teacher, you know, I think I would quote them
Speaker 3: Winston Churchill. He said that to what you get in
Speaker 3: life is based on what you give. What you get
Speaker 3: in terms of paying things like that or nothing. You
Speaker 3: what you give makes you who you are, and you'll
Speaker 3: find I think the most happiness in giving for them getting.
Speaker 3: I think I would tell them that it's true.
Speaker 1: Mister Wells. Thank you, Blessings to you and your wife
Speaker 1: and your boys. And next time I'm home, I can't
Speaker 1: wait to see you.
Speaker 3: Okay, great love talking to you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Bye bye, hon bye bye. After retiring from
Speaker 1: teaching and coaching, Jim Wells and his wife Mary Anne
Speaker 1: continue to contribute countless hours to community programs and events.
Speaker 1: The two of them are a constant presence, the champion,
Speaker 1: the people and the passions of red Sport. We are
Speaker 1: all so fortunate to have had them in our corner.
Speaker 1: I have a nonprofit organization called Point Hope that I founded,
Speaker 1: and I can tell you that if it weren't for
Speaker 1: Missus Lyons in fourth grade encouraging us to pack up
Speaker 1: boxes of clothes and school supplies to send to orphans
Speaker 1: and Vietnam who had survived the Vietnam War, I would
Speaker 1: not have had the courage to start Point Hope. Missus
Speaker 1: Lyons was my fourth grade teacher. She didn't just teach
Speaker 1: reading and writing and math. She taught compassion. She taught
Speaker 1: us that we could make a difference in the world.
Speaker 1: My fifth grade teacher, mister Myers, my sixth grade, seventh
Speaker 1: grade teachers, my junior high teachers who had to put
Speaker 1: up with a whole lot of really raging hormones and
Speaker 1: braddy behavior on my part, shaped me, loved me, encouraged me,
Speaker 1: helped me to become the person that I am today.
Speaker 1: Good teachers encourage and they help, and they care deeply.
Speaker 1: They care about their students. They care about what's going
Speaker 1: on in their lives. When a child is sick or hurting,
Speaker 1: they care. So if you are a teacher, a principal,
Speaker 1: vice principal, across walk guard, a school bus driver, if
Speaker 1: you have coached a high school basketball team, football team,
Speaker 1: junior high volleyball team, a swim team. Maybe you're a
Speaker 1: drama teacher and you've done plays and given up your
Speaker 1: after schools for years, or you're a music teacher and
Speaker 1: you take the kids on trips to perform. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Thank you for going the extra mile. Thank you for
Speaker 1: using your gifts and talents and skills to make this
Speaker 1: world a better place, one student, heart at a time.
Speaker 1: Dea