At Vianopolis, roughly in chronological order, starting on July 29, 1978
Geddie and Ruth Ann Strickland......kind dormparents Gill Baxter.........one of the best teachers at Vianopolis...4th and 5th grades for me Miles and Coleen Templeton.....good dormparents; Miles taught me how to work...Coleen...always a godly example Jeanette Callahan...5th grade math. She and Arden were the engines that made Vianopolis a school, a place of learning, and a place of excellence Dave and Grace Fread......good dormparents; he helped our Tiger Club; they were a very good choice for the little dorm Carol Taylor.....6th grade English; a wonderful combination with my classmate Rusty Smith Steve Parker....taught 6th grade Social Studies from the hallway after Rusty had beans for lunch. Ted Wright.......rolled up a 10 cruzeiro note between his fingers before class on faith in 6th grade Bible class; he said whoever believed he had 10 cruzeiros in his hand could come up to his desk and claim it.....nobody went forward, except Rusty. (His dad Larry helped drive the trucks from Wisconsin down to Sanford when they moved the headquarters) Bob and Fay Barker....good dormparents; they loved us unconditionally Arden Callahan....7th grade math......he could take a 7th grade Beka book and spark your interest in space exploration, or Anwar Sadat. Jerry Wnuk..7th grade science class.....he played soccer with us; he talked a lot about the U.S. which helped me visualize American culture; he sparked my interest in sports with Sports Illustrated. Jean Hann......English....she's the main reason we did well on the ACT Marcy.....faithful cook Jack and Babs Pierce.....he never gave up trying to extract art from inside me; he played Sergio Reis while we crafted fine works of pottery Dona Conceicao.....she washed 2,527,673 dishes Frank Parker.....he drove us to Anapolis to get our teeth fixed Mel Royer.....he let me do odd jobs and cut grass....and he paid me for it, so I could pay for the trips to Anapolis Bob and Delores Schuring.....steady, faithful; kept us from being devoured by limiting Russell's wildlife collection Bruce Taylor......excellent math teacher; I appreciated his guidance on student council Bucky Nageli......even Joanne would smile when he got kicked in the balls at the quadra Stan and Dyann Donmoyer.....took us on senior sneak, planned our graduation; Paulo and Neli Jancitsky.....she would always find us a room during conference; he was an excellent choir teacher Ted and Jean Wright.......the gospel went forth in Vianpolis because of them; he taught me how to weld and wire a house; she taught me Portuguese grammar and verb conjugations Velda Whitehouse........I can type because of her Gerson Celeti....he demonstrated a very genuine walk with the Lord Cabral....I remember one night he sang 6 special numbers during the Sunday service, but forgot the words to the 5th one; he always carried Irmgard on his garupa Antonio Carlos.....a bit wild, but very committed to the Lord....he could lay brick faster than Rodney and Ben Ben Royer....impossible to beat on the quadra Rodney Schurring..........we thought it was funny how Rute always came over to inspect Rodney's brick-laying at the bike shop.......1980 Robson.....his father-in-law, Sr. Isaias....how I wish that could have ended better....but anyways, when Robson picked Ketcham before me one night at soccer, I vowed to never be picked....well, Erick always got picked first...but it motivated me to do better. Jim Ketcham....he liked to read my Sports Illustrated and I liked to read his Allistair MacLean novels. But I always loaned SI to Jerry Wnuk first, because he signed my report card. The February edition.....my father-in-law delivered it to the boys dorm mailbox, while all my Beavis and Butthead classmates snickered. I would then Pharisaically throw it away. Randy Krussow.......Algebra II was just me and him, but I would still struggle to stay awake. He was an excellent person, and gave me great advice as I finished my senior year. Darrell Canright....he understood us better than everybody, because he was an MK....and he liked the Cowboys.
Students: Tim Parker; he was a senior but taught me 4th grade social studies. Bill Moore; he was a senior, but taught me 4th grade science. Tim and Bill took the five 4th graders on a hike while the other 14 little dormers sat around and ate mangas.....boy, did we feel tough Jonathan Parker.....he was the mature leader in the high school; taught us Sunday school Tom Caylor...he knew how many baby steps there were from the boys dorm to the refei....and he had the long jump record for five years Kristina/Judy/Jenny Whitaker........Kristina was going to marry Jonathan and Reuben Schuring liked Judy.......the Whitaker family is a wonderful family.....you would never guess Earl attended Bob Jones David Rice.........he had novel ideas, like sneaking down to the bus station after supper to buy pizza....he would send me to buy it while he played soccer...he would then wolf it down in between games Tom Wright.......pretty sure he scored the highest on the ACT of any Via grad; put up with racism Roger Donmoyer/Duane Donmoyer.....they invited me into the secret order of the Darkroom where we developed pictures for the yearbook. Chris Moore......always a blessing, always a challenge, always fun Steve Hann......belonged on a dude ranch from the time he was six Kristin Key....she was cool Janet Strickland....she was sophisticated and always polite Kevin Wnuk.....best musical talent; highly intelligent Sandi Pavkov....very committed Christian Ben Pavkov......a cool dude, who rode his motorcycle David King....my best friend Erick Wnuk......great friend; taught me soccer and taught me Stratego; he liked to come over and watch Chris Moore and David King in the MMA fights; never beat Erick in a race. Gene Ketcham......he let me win two races when I was in the 9th grade. I think his dad told him to go slow so I would continue to loan him Sports Illustrated. Celinda, Lenita, Karen, Tammy............the four girls in the 5-person high school dorm in 1984-85....I was very lucky Tracy Miller/Duane Miller....I think the folks from Cuiaba helped us to start thinking for ourselves.... little bit. They weren't tribers. It might have helped if they had come a few years earlier. Debbie Donmoyer....she and Brenda Bittle knew how to keep rowdy fifth grade boys in line. Gene Ketcham/Marc Key/Roger Bailey/Joel Parker/Dan Bailey.........this was an illustrious group, rivaled only by the 1984 class (Chris Moore/Steve Hann/Russell Schurring) for their ability to keep things hopping, and yet their classmates, my older sister and Minan Donmoyer were tasked by fate to keep things within the bounds of decency (or perhaps to egg them on further).
I have forgotten many, and I may not have explained my thankfulness for each one, but each one of these people was kind in some way to me...they demonstrated God's love to me. They encouraged me. They corrected me. They laughed with me.
I have fond memories of Via.
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