Friday, May 30, 2008 9:17 PM CDT
NYC native found rewarding career teaching in Mattoon
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Leroy Johnson and his brother, Don, would seem to be in opposition to each other: One is a juvenile prosecutor in an urban area; the other has mentored at-risk kids in a more rural setting most of his adult life.
In reality, they share the same goal, said Leroy Johnson, a longtime learning disabilities teacher in the Mattoon school district. His brother, meanwhile, is involved in numerous outreach efforts in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area “to help them stay out of trouble rather than lock them up,” Johnson said.
“We both work (to) keep kids out of trouble. It’s kind of funny how we both ended up doing that.”
And after more than three decades in Coles County schools, the native of South Bronx, New York is moving on to a new set of surreal challenges, although Johnson, 57, hinted that his work with at-risk youths may not be quite at an end.
“It’s been quite rewarding,” he said of his career. “It’s been a great ride — the best thing that ever happened to me. I was fortunate to find my niche.”
Johnson, who lives in Casey, left New York to join his brother when Don Johnson was still a student at Northwestern University’s law school in Chicago. Leroy Johnson pursued his own higher education degree in the late 1970s, attending Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
This also marked the beginning of his relationship with the Treatment and Learning Center, which now is in Humboldt but formerly was located at the now-demolished Central School in Mattoon. Johnson started there as an aid in 1977, and went to work at TLC full-time after he graduated from EIU in 1980.
He remained at TLC for the next 14 years, and then became a faculty member at Mattoon High School in 1994. “I’ve been here ever since,” he said.
Unlike many people who take on careers teaching high-risk youths, only to burn out three to five years later, Johnson said he has never tired of his job. For this, he considers himself fortunate.
“I had a knack for it,” he said, adding that “I had my own issues in school” so working with at-risk kids “was like breathing for me. It was so easy, I decided to stay with it.”
MHS Principal Ken Reed said Johnson “is a student-centered teacher that cares about kids.”
Assistant Principal Michele Sinclair said Johnson “is a very student-centered teacher. He knows and understands the importance of building positive relationships with his students. Leroy always has a kind thing to say to the people with whom he interacts.
“He is a caring teacher and he will be greatly missed.”
Johnson and his late son, Kenon, had purchased a farm in rural Clark County shortly before Kenon’s sudden death in 2001. Johnson said he now intends to “dabble” in organic farming, and also help take care of his two grandsons, ages 3 and 5 months. He has a daughter, Kisha, 21.
“I like the quiet and comfort of this area,” Johnson said.
Not that his life will be absent of any excitement beyond the ordinary thrills of raising a family: Johnson has flown hang gliders since the late 1980s, and he intends to acquire a motorized glider to pilot from a landing strip on his farm.
Johnson said he also may do some consulting work, and perhaps may even write a book.
After all, he concluded, “I’ve worked with high-risk kids my whole life.”
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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Harry Potter wrote on May 31, 2008 8:51 AM: