Another thing in the EMHS Today that came the other day is a page noting the impending retirement of Mr. Jim Rush.

Mr. Rush has taught at EMHS since 1967, before any of us (including our classmante and his daughter, Amy) were born. His government classes were easily among the best-taught courses I had at EMHS, and I’m sure most of you would agree. I still remember the mock Congress, the trips to local government functions, and the almost daily news clips that he played for us at the start of class. (I also got a B in government one semester because it was the first class of the day and my dad had some trouble getting me to school on time. The unexcused tardies got me a letter grade lower.)

After college, I started working for the Daily News-Record covering local government, primarily the courts. And I was astonished how good my introduction to these topics via Mr. Rush’s government class, had been. I knew things that even reporters already at the paper were unaware of. From the first day, I knew where the various courts were, recognized the late, great Judge Graves from the trial we attended, could find the clerk’s office, knew how the city council and county board of supervisers were elected, all that. Same with local history: I had done a project for Mr. Rush where me and my mom drove around taking pictures of houses in Rockingham County built between 1815 and 1860; I still remember the dates, and I still have the pictures. I knew where all that stuff was. Mr. Rush’s classes were among the most direct education-to-real life gifts that I recall. (Another would be Mrs. Matheny’s–another parent of a fellow classmate–typing class, which I have used more than any single class I ever took. But government class, in relation to newspaper reporting, was extremely close.)

So, thanks to Mr. Rush. There must be hundreds of us who could say the same thing.

I have to include one of my favorite stories about Mr. Rush, as well. Galen Horst, our world civilizations teacher, told it. One night, Mr. Horst was in his classroom checking out the new TV he had there. He would push the buttons on it, sit down and start to watch, and suddenly the channel or the volume would change. This went on for some time. Eventually, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, some movement in the bushes outside the window. Upon further review, he found Mr. Rush out there with the remote control he had stolen from the new TV, changing the channels and pretty much laughing his head off at his colleague. For some reason, the mental images always killed me.

The EMHS Today notes that there is a reception at the high school for Mr. Rush at 6:15 on the evening of our reunion, Oct. 20. If you recall his gracious assistance as fondly as I do, you will want to make plans to stop by and say thank you.