It is with deep sadness that I relay the message that Ralph Coate died this weekend.
I'm so deeply grateful that we had a chance to let him know how much he was loved while he was still with us.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Dedicated
RE: Ralph Coate
Judge Thomas Little [TLittle@court.co.macon.il.us]
It’s been over thirty-five years since I began freshman Biology with Mr. Coate. Subsequent classes included Advanced Biology and Physics. Despite the passage of decades, I still have fond memories of those classes. A steady dose of homework, frequent quizzes, and difficult chapter tests made these classes frightening, challenging, and rewarding, all at the same time. Yet through it all, Mr. Coate still managed to bring humor and fun to the classroom. I remember fishing through a large bucket of formaldehyde trying to locate a cow heart or a pig eye.
Extracurricular activities with the Conservation Club included a canoe trip to the Current River in Missouri and an exploration of the diverse environments of a bog and sand dunes at Indiana Dunes State Park.
The education I received in the sciences remains with me to this day, as does the love of our natural environment. For this, I am grateful. Yet these are not the most important things that I took away from my experiences with Mr. Coate. Through my observations of his interactions with students, staff, and teachers, I learned about the virtues of respect for yourself and others, dedication to the task at hand, and a strong work ethic. These are the lessons for which I am most grateful.
Judge Thomas Little [TLittle@court.co.macon.il.us]
It’s been over thirty-five years since I began freshman Biology with Mr. Coate. Subsequent classes included Advanced Biology and Physics. Despite the passage of decades, I still have fond memories of those classes. A steady dose of homework, frequent quizzes, and difficult chapter tests made these classes frightening, challenging, and rewarding, all at the same time. Yet through it all, Mr. Coate still managed to bring humor and fun to the classroom. I remember fishing through a large bucket of formaldehyde trying to locate a cow heart or a pig eye.
Extracurricular activities with the Conservation Club included a canoe trip to the Current River in Missouri and an exploration of the diverse environments of a bog and sand dunes at Indiana Dunes State Park.
The education I received in the sciences remains with me to this day, as does the love of our natural environment. For this, I am grateful. Yet these are not the most important things that I took away from my experiences with Mr. Coate. Through my observations of his interactions with students, staff, and teachers, I learned about the virtues of respect for yourself and others, dedication to the task at hand, and a strong work ethic. These are the lessons for which I am most grateful.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The Best of the Best
Ralph,
In all of my years in and around public education, I cannot recall any educator as dedicated and competent as you. My memory recalls that without exception, the lights in your science room were always the first on in the morning, and most generally, the last off in the evening. The rigor taught and expected in your classroom was always that of excellence and the expectation for academic achievement was not only for your students, but a demand you made of yourself as well. During my ten years at Macon you were always "that educator" I most wanted to emulate. Not only did you raise the bar for students, you raised it for your colleagues as well. You have touched the lives of countless numbers of students, parents and co-educators, and because of contact with you, all our lives have been enriched.
Having served on the School Board in Decatur for 12 years, I have seen from "the other side" what an asset to any school district, a teacher of your quality is to that district. You are truly one of a kind, the best of the best. I wish there were more as dedicated to both subject matter and student, as you. If the dictionary had pictures next to definitions of words, yours would be located next to the word pedagogue.
With all my admiration, I wish you well in your retirement. Public education is a better place because you. Your presence and contribution will sorely be missed.
D.R. Roberts
Addenda
Nothing like sending out the "I think it's finished" email to bring the stragglers in!
Looks like we'll have a few more memories shared here.
Looks like we'll have a few more memories shared here.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Acknowledgements
Obviously, the people whose contributions have been key to this effort are the authors whose remembrances are included here. Thanks to each of you for taking the time to put your thoughts to paper.But several other folks have made major contributions. My thanks to:
- Ruby Tindall, Kevin Tindall, and Debbie Horne, for making their yearbooks available to my scanner
- Bev Henn, for her initiative and organizational expertise
- MHS Yearbook staff, past and present, for capturing the man in his element
- The Bock Family editorial board for their helpful suggestions
Mildly Frightening/Reaching Across Generations
I was part of the first class from Blue Mound who entered Meridian High School as a freshman, and I had heard faint rumors about the hard-nosed biology teacher: extensive bug collections, daily quizzes, intense tests, lab practicals, and then…. the dissection of the cat. I was oblivious, it was science, better than that - biology! How hard could it be?
The high school hosted a welcoming party for all the students and their parents who would be attending the new Meridian High school that fall. It was a pretty unremarkable night up until we took a short tour of the school. I remember several students clustered around a lighted doorway, and inside there were display cases and animals is jars, skeletons on the wall, a cage with a live tarantula, and volumes of old books. It looked like a museum. I have no idea if this door was supposed to be open, but my parents and I meandered in. My mother was fascinated, I was mildly frightened. A rubber bat hung from the ceiling with a dried moth in its mouth. Like a cat, my mother reached up to make it fly about on it’s string and the moth shoots out of the bat’s mouth and on to the floor. At that point I notice the man behind us, the infamous Mr. Coate, with a stern expression, and suddenly I notice we’re the only people in the room. This was not a friendly looking teacher. I was suddenly afraid that I might not be liked in his class. My father- being the socialite that he is- started up a conversation, “This is right up Marthe’s alley, she wants to be a marine biologist!” At which point Mr. Coat says I should be taking his biology course, along with zoology, microbiology, anatomy… I thought the list would go on forever. Aren’t these college courses? I was hoping I would be forget-able within this large freshman class of 116 students. My mom broke the rubber bat! I was mortified!
First semester of my freshman year I managed to be fairly average, I got a C. I refused to believe that it was necessary for me to study everyday. My parents had no sympathy. If I was going to have a “pop quiz” four out of five days a week, then I should know how to prepare for it. So I put my nose to the grindstone and read, every night, and eventually I turned that grade around. I took 2 more classes with Mr. Coate before graduating, and now hoping to stand out as opposed to blending into the hallways. I discovered I enjoyed anatomy, and dissection and understanding how the body works. I would spend time after school in the lab room looking at those animals is jars and trying to put them in the correct phylo-genetic class. I encouraged my younger sisters to take the class, and prepared them not to make my mistakes. (I’m still a little sore that they seemed to do better than me, never getting that C on their mid-term report card.)
What I take with me from Mr. Coate’s class is the leg up it gave me on my future studies that eventually have led me to medical school and beyond. I still think fondly of my high school teacher who challenged me and fostered my love of science. I would like to thank him for his years of hard work dedicated to the students of Macon and Meridian High Schools, and reassure him that if he has touched others lives in just a part of the way he has touched mine, the effects of his teaching will reach a few more generations.
Marthe Phelps, MD
Meridian High School, Class of 1998
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Class of 2002
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Class of 2006
First Year Pediatric Resident, University of Iowa, Class of 2009
The high school hosted a welcoming party for all the students and their parents who would be attending the new Meridian High school that fall. It was a pretty unremarkable night up until we took a short tour of the school. I remember several students clustered around a lighted doorway, and inside there were display cases and animals is jars, skeletons on the wall, a cage with a live tarantula, and volumes of old books. It looked like a museum. I have no idea if this door was supposed to be open, but my parents and I meandered in. My mother was fascinated, I was mildly frightened. A rubber bat hung from the ceiling with a dried moth in its mouth. Like a cat, my mother reached up to make it fly about on it’s string and the moth shoots out of the bat’s mouth and on to the floor. At that point I notice the man behind us, the infamous Mr. Coate, with a stern expression, and suddenly I notice we’re the only people in the room. This was not a friendly looking teacher. I was suddenly afraid that I might not be liked in his class. My father- being the socialite that he is- started up a conversation, “This is right up Marthe’s alley, she wants to be a marine biologist!” At which point Mr. Coat says I should be taking his biology course, along with zoology, microbiology, anatomy… I thought the list would go on forever. Aren’t these college courses? I was hoping I would be forget-able within this large freshman class of 116 students. My mom broke the rubber bat! I was mortified!
First semester of my freshman year I managed to be fairly average, I got a C. I refused to believe that it was necessary for me to study everyday. My parents had no sympathy. If I was going to have a “pop quiz” four out of five days a week, then I should know how to prepare for it. So I put my nose to the grindstone and read, every night, and eventually I turned that grade around. I took 2 more classes with Mr. Coate before graduating, and now hoping to stand out as opposed to blending into the hallways. I discovered I enjoyed anatomy, and dissection and understanding how the body works. I would spend time after school in the lab room looking at those animals is jars and trying to put them in the correct phylo-genetic class. I encouraged my younger sisters to take the class, and prepared them not to make my mistakes. (I’m still a little sore that they seemed to do better than me, never getting that C on their mid-term report card.)
What I take with me from Mr. Coate’s class is the leg up it gave me on my future studies that eventually have led me to medical school and beyond. I still think fondly of my high school teacher who challenged me and fostered my love of science. I would like to thank him for his years of hard work dedicated to the students of Macon and Meridian High Schools, and reassure him that if he has touched others lives in just a part of the way he has touched mine, the effects of his teaching will reach a few more generations.
Marthe Phelps, MD
Meridian High School, Class of 1998
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Class of 2002
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Class of 2006
First Year Pediatric Resident, University of Iowa, Class of 2009
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