Friend

Mr. Coate was not only my teacher; he was my coach, friend, sports fan, and counselor. He would cut out my name from the paper from every track meet. He would talk to me about my career options and what college I wanted to attend. He even wrote me a letter of recommendation, which I am almost positive, is one of the main reasons I was accepted into Illinois Wesleyan University. He was my friend whenever I needed to talk about anything, it did not even have to be science related. Most importantly, though, he was one of the most inspirational people in my life. He taught me more than I could ever thank him for. Not only did he help make me a better student, he made me a better person. He caused me to believe in myself. He made sure I did not settle for ordinary. He knew my potential better than I did, and he made sure I strived for perfection. He was a hard teacher, but I would not have wanted it any other way. I am proud to say that I was a student in Mr. Coate’s class. I am sad to see him leave because there are so many younger children who do not get the opportunity of knowing Ralph Coate. I will never forget this wonderful human being, or the impact he has had on my life. Thank you for everything Mr. Coate!

Here are a few memories I have of Mr. Coate and being in his class. I honestly looked forward to going to his class everyday because you never knew what to expect from that crazy man.

-The first time I was doing a lab in Mr. Coate’s class I accidentally threw away the plastic spoon. When he walked by all the lab tables as we were cleaning up, he asked our group where the spoon was. I was so intimidated by him and did not want to tell him that I threw it away. I immediately ran to the garbage to dig it out, but couldn’t find it. He definitely saw me going through the trash and assumed I had done something wrong. He was slightly upset that I threw it away, so the next day I brought him a plastic spoon from home. On that spoon I wrote “DO NOT THROW AWAY” and put a smiley face on it. Mr. Coate still has it hanging up in his room to this day.

-I felt like every time I was in lab I got this “look” from Mr. Coate like “what the heck are you doing, Chelsea”. He always made fun of me and told me that I mutilated everything we dissected. I still remember the day we had to saw through the cat’s skull and Amy Moma destroyed the brain. Mr. Coate made her promise him she would never become a brain surgeon.

-I remember how I came into his class the morning after the test where we had to name every muscle used in the paragraph of movements throughout the school. My test was on top and it had a big, fat D on it. I could not believe my eyes. I had never received a D in my life. I went up to Mr. Coate who had this huge grin on his face. I could not believe he thought this was humorous. He told me that I had done a “blonde” thing; I had not followed directions properly. He loved to comment on my hair color, like it really made a difference J

-I also loved how every day after I had missed school Mr. Coate would always ask me in front of the whole class what I had bought at the store. He never believed that I was sick and assumed that I went out and bought an Easter outfit.

-I loved how you would answer a question in class and Mr. Coate would say “yes, exactly” and then write down a totally different answer than what you had said.

-I loved how he always tried to speak Spanish. For ex: Turn in el quizzo. He was always teasing Mrs. Horne.

-I loved how he bribed us with cookies and offered us the half smoked/chewed Cuban cigar…or something to that idea.

These memories will forever be embedded in my mind and heart. We will miss you Mr. Coate!

-Chelsea Wallis