Pubdate: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 Source: Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC) Copyright: 2004 Evening Post Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.charleston.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567 Author: Steve D. Peper Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Goose+Creek TOUGH BUT FAIR It was August 1970 when I first heard the name George McCrackin. As a freshman at North Charleston High School while attending JV football practice, I was informed that we were getting a new science teacher. He had just graduated from The Citadel and he didn't "take any crap." Not to worry. How bad could a guy be whose younger sister was one of the sweetest and prettiest girls in school? What I was subjected to during that semester left an indelible imprint on my life. Talk about tough. No nonsense and no excuses. Come on, Mr. McCrackin, it's just a science project -- what's the big deal? I had football practice. We've got a big game tonight. Unfortunately, my father accepted the calling of a church in Maryland. My family and I moved at the end of that semester. What I learned later and came to accept was that semester spent with Mr. McCrackin proved to be an academic turning point in the life of an adolescent teenage boy; 3-1/2 years later, I returned to Charleston to attend The Citadel. I never saw Mr. McCrackin again until the early 1990s when a few fellow Citadel graduates and I attended the College Baseball World Series in Omaha, Neb. There he was! Now a principal at Stratford High School who traveled all the way to Omaha to watch a former Stratford standout and Citadel star athlete compete in the CWS. In retrospect, I am grateful. I wish I had more teachers like George McCrackin. Sure he was tough, but he was fair and he really cared about us. And he convinced us that we were far more capable than we believed. As a parent, I certainly appreciate it. I wonder how many other students he touched. I thank God he touched me. Sorry, Rev. Jackson, no support here for your actions against this man and educator. Steve D. Peper, Mount Pleasant - --- MAP posted-by: Derek