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- Dean Lerner '74
Michael Schaffer '70 is an extraordinary teacher. His high school classroom at Central Academy in Des Moines, Iowa, is filled with boxes representing nearly 40 years of educating others. Somewhere in these annals, one might even find an examination, term paper, or recommendation for my own son, whom Mike taught many years ago. So when I learned Mike had been nominated for the Volunteer Spotlight, I enthusiastically asked to write this recognition. I wanted to honor a life dedicated not only to students, but also to a worldview focused on volunteerism, which Mike attributes directly to his Grinnell experience.
"I have to thank Grinnell's professors for inspiring me to become a teacher and providing a program by which I could earn my teaching certificate," Mike tells us. "Service to others is a way of life whose seed was planted in high school, germinated at Grinnell, and blossomed in [my] career." A chronology of Mike's activities at Grinnell foreshadowed his engaged approach to life and his commitment to helping others:
- Volunteered at Uncle Sam's Club and the Department of Recreation for the city of Grinnell
- Helped organize a symposium on poverty
- Served as a tour guide for the Office of Admission and as a member of the selection committee
- With others, started the Grinnell Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP)
- Was elected dorm president
- Played baseball and football for four years
- Played hockey for two years (Mike started a club of 15 players who practiced on the Barber Plaza rink and played a 20-game season at the Des Moines Ice Arena against the members of the Iowa Collegiate Hockey League [Drake, Iowa State, Graceland]; they also took road trips to Minnesota to play Carleton and St. Olaf)
- Served as radio broadcaster on KDIC, with a morning program and a weekend sports program
- Wrote sports stories for the Scarlet & Black and the Grinnell Herald Tribune
- Served as PA announcer for the home basketball games and swim meets
For the past 25 years, Mike has served as an admission volunteer for Grinnell in New York City and Des Moines. He has represented Grinnell at college fairs, talked about Grinnell to prospective students, interviewed students for admission, attended social gatherings for admitted students, visited with first-year students at the end of New Student Days, and attended many graduation ceremonies to congratulate students he knew. Mike estimates that he knows from five to ten students in any given Grinnell class, students with whom he had some kind of contact prior to their enrollment at Grinnell. Over the past 25 years, Mike estimates that he has personally been involved in helping at least 125 students (perhaps as many as 250) attend Grinnell, one from as far away as Moscow.
Mike's continuing connection to the College goes well beyond his remarkable influence as an educator. In addition to attending many reunions, he has also helped organize and host two alumni events in Des Moines; attended several other events; and has attended numerous lectures, cultural events, and athletic contests (many of which involved his former students) at the College. Mike participated in the alumni trip to the Soviet Union in 1991, and has enhanced Grinnell's art collection through his gifts of African and Estonian artworks to the College.
Mike is a soft-spoken, unassuming guy with a resumé of volunteerism a mile long and a lifetime of achievement that has touched untold numbers of students. He received Grinnell's Iowa Teacher of the Year Award not once, but twice, in 1985 and 2000. In 2007, Mike received the MetLife Foundation Ambassadors in Education Award for outstanding leadership in the community. In 2004, he received the Disney American Teacher Award for creativity in the classroom. In 1990, he received the Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of Chicago, followed by National Board Certification in 1999 (no small feat).
Despite all these achievements and accolades, Mike seems to take the most pride in mentoring Joey Hildebrand, an inner city youth. Mike "adopted" Joey through the "I Have a Dream" Program, in which Grinnell participates. Mike nurtured him over the course of seven years with heartfelt commitment, meeting at least weekly. Of the original 47 Moulton Elementary School 5th graders, Joey was one of 12 to graduate from high school.
My personal take is that Joey is one of the luckiest participants, having one of the most gifted and caring educators on the planet. Please join me in thanking Mike for his life of service to the College, his students, and the world at large.
July 2009 Honoree: Michael Schaffer '70
May 2009 Honoree: Ron Lavender '50
March 2009 Honorees: Carl Adkins '59 and Catherine Foster Alter '60
January 2009 Honoree: Ruth Koehler Bergerson '66
November 2008 Honoree: David V. Evans '64
September 2008 Honoree: Samantha Massingale Gerth '91
July 2008 Honoree: Audrey "Bunny" Howard Swanson '43
May 2008 Honoree: Emily Westergaard '02
March 2008 Honoree: David Rosenbaum '78
January 2008 Honoree: Beverly Burd Stubbee '48
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