I received some terrible news today that has reminded me of how absolutely precious life is. While I had another post planned for today this clearly takes precedence. Bedford lost one of it’s absolute finest today in Dr. Herb Moyer.

Dr. Moyer was our former Superintendent of Bedford Public Schools, serving from 1984-1996, and hands down one of the most genuine and outstanding individuals you would ever meet. His passion for education and his students was unrivaled - even to this day. Undoubtedly Dr. Moyer will go down as the most influential and greatest leader of our school district.

Dr. Moyer was responsible for intiating the PTA within Bedford Public Schools; an act that I must continue to thank him for as it allows me great access to my child’s education and gives me increased ability to help and be of assistance.

If memory serves me correct Dr. Moyer was also responsible for establishing the ‘Guaranteed Graduate’ for those students who graduated from Bedford High School.

Few people have ever impressed me more than Dr. Moyer. I can remember, the exact year escapes me but I know it was while at the Jr. High, I had been kicked out of the classroom and was sitting in the hall doing my work. Dr. Moyer happened to be in the building and stopped to talk to me in the hallway where I sat. He asked me what I had done and made me promise I would no longer get into trouble so that I could be in the classroom learning. I wasn’t an unruly child to begin with (my folks may disagree) but what kid didn’t find themselves in the wrong from time to time? I was impressed that Dr. Moyer cared greatly for each individual student; he didn’t need to stop and check on me but he cared enough to. A great leader.

It is situations such as Dr. Moyer’s passing that makes me realize (or remember) that we should all cherish the passion he shared … for whatever we’re passionate about. Dr. Moyer was a champion for all things Bedford and wanted what was best, in his eyes, for the schools and this community. Imagine how much more great this community could be if we all shared that passion!

To Dr. Moyer’s family I send you my best wishes and condolences. God bless you all.

Well, I finally had the opportunity to reach out to school administrators and business leaders via e mail today; next up is our township leaders (I just need to decide in what fashion I would like them to help contribute as I am not looking to make this blog overly political in nature).

The first individual to respond to me was my old junior high principal, Mrs. Mary Zaums. She was always an excellent administrator and I am glad to see that she is still over there leading a great group of young people as well as an excellent staff. Hopefully she is still there when Meghan, my oldest, finds her way there in 4 more years.

I found out that enrollment is indeed down at the junior high - 840 students - and less are expected next year. We, as a community, must find a means in which enrollment stops declining. I’m not sure if it is a lack of affordable housing for young families, the struggling economy, or a combination of the two. Regardless of the problem we need to fix declining enrollment as it is one aspect that could help our declining school budget.

Mrs. Zaums shared with me two great stories both of which I found to be very exciting and important lessons.

The first story came from an American History class (which I believe we took in the 8th grade) where a teacher was playing the Auction Game. The premise of the game is the teacher acts as the Treasury and controls the value of the play money with which he auctioned off desirable goods. When the teacher would decrease the value of the money the demand for the goods would then increase. Eventually the supply of the goods decreased because the teacher began gradually removing money from circulation.  The point of the lesson was to bring the current economic struggles of America into focus for these 13-year-old students. Mrs. Zaums stated that it worked very well because the teacher was a master as knowing students and being able to bring everyday practice to their level.

What a neat lesson. A focus on improving the economic struggles facing this nation is real and effects all of us; including these 13-year-old children. Imagine what a great opportunity these children have to go home and share this new experience with their families. Furthermore, imagine the opportunity to learn more at home and maybe even the parents could learn something from their child’s experience.

The second exciting story Mrs. Zaums shared was that she was taking four students to the Government Center to meet and talk to Bob Schockman, our Township Clerk, and to ask him to come over and register students to vote in a mock election this November at the school. Only those who registered would be able to vote in the mock election.

Again, what a great lesson in civics. I don’t recall being presented with this type of opportunity at that age. I do recall during the 1996 election, my senior year of high school, having some elected officials, or those running for office, come and speak to the Government classes. Bev Hammerstrom was there and I think Bob Schockman came to speak as well. Mr. Med Barr, a former township official, was our government teacher and I am sure this played a role in things.

Considering that the young people, my generation included, of this nation seem to not take their voting rights seriously I think any exposure at any age is important. I applaud Mrs. Zaums and those at the junior high who took this step to teach such an important lesson.

Hopefully this is the first of many posts that will focus on positive and exciting things going on at all of our wonderful schools. We truly have top notch facilities with top notch individuals leading our school system. I look forward to communicating with all of the administrators and others throughout the community to share stories like this with all of you.

Thanks to Mrs. Zaums for taking the time to communicate with me today and a thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read. You all make this worthwhile.

A recent entry on the Bedford Now Chatter section got me a bit riled up inside.  A commenter started a thread ripping apart the new football coach, Jeff Wood, and his first year squad. To save you from the unsavory details let’s just say this particular individual was none too kind to those who have put in long hours and a lot of hard work.

Coach Wood needs to be given the opportunity to grow this program. Not even the best of coaches can come in and immediately change things around. Especially more so at a program that hasn’t had a winning record since 2002 and hasn’t made the MHSAA playoffs since 1990. A complete change in culture needs to occur before this program will find it’s winning ways.

For those of you more inclined towards the understanding of college football take a quick glance at Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan. Rodriguez is a highly successful coach who has brought about a complete change in culture to an old stuffy program. Can Rodriguez find success immediately? After watching this past Saturday’s game I think the clear indication is no. But that is okay as some of today’s best coaches struggled in their first years just check Jim Tressel and Pete Carroll.

Coach Wood has brought in a near type of offense, the veer offense and some highly skilled coaches; his father, LeRoy Wood, is on the staff and is a Hall of Fame coach. The veer is an exciting offense but one that isn’t overwhelmingly easy to run. I am sure Coach Wood is working through all levels of Bedford football to ensure that the fundamentals of this offense are being taught from the earliest ages on.

Furthermore, football is a year long committment and the players need to make that committment to ensure that this program turns around. Perhaps Coach Wood can encourage these guys to join the wrestling program (this may pay dividends to guys that play the D line), run track (to keep conditioning levels high), or find other activities to participate in that will maintain their conditioning level and their athletic focus.

So please, before you’re ready to completely cast aside the progress Coach Wood has made or is making remember that this is a process. Patience is going to be a necessity in this endeavour - patience from us, the alumni and community, patience from parents, patience from the administration, and patience from the players and coaches.

Some random thoughts while I continue to work on broadening the scope of this blog by getting in touch with local leaders of all sectors of our township.

• I really, really, really (this could go on for a while) dislike there not being a gas station in Lambertville. To me it is positively disgusting that there is only one gas station in Bedford Township right now. 30k plus residents and one gas station (unless there is one of Telegraph right over the state line I am not thinking of)
• American Table has great breaksfast. Only drawback … no corned beef hash. Maggie’s has great corned beef hash. I know you probably don’t give two hoots about my eating habits but I love me some corned beef hash.
• Speaking of restaurants … does anyone know the hours of the place at Olde Schoolhouse Commons?! I publicly promised the owner on Bedford Now Chatter that I would check it out but I have failed to do so yet and would like to.
• I saw Coach Jeff Wood at the Toledo Central Catholic football game this past Friday. I wonder if he was there to fret over the loss of Dave Wallender and Zach Messer who have (legally) transferred to play at Central this year. Wallender has won the starting QB job there and Messer seems to always be on the field. I am excited to see what types of things Coach Wood will accomplish this year and into the future. First game is a very tough matchup with Airport.
• Does anyone wish we could annually rekindle the old rivalry with Whitmer?
• School starts back up in a little over a week. Any other parents out there excited for that?!? I know we are!

That’s about all I got right now. It’s slightly late on a Sunday and I could sure go to bed early tonight!