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Schools

Case High School Dropout Becomes RUSD Teacher

Horlick High teacher Aaron Eick shares his story in hopes of inspiring others

The Horlick High School Class of 2011 had an interesting choice for graduation speaker this year: a high school dropout.

That dropout -- Aaron Eick -- is now a teacher at Horlick, after bailing out of Racine's Case High School during his "second junior year" back in 1998. He wants to share his story because it shows that teachers really can make a difference.

"I couldn't be more proud that the students asked me to speak," he said. "What a culminating moment for me."

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FROM DROPOUT TO GRAD SCHOOL

Eick came from a supportive family -- his dad, Dick, was a Racine police officer, and his mother, Lillie, was a teacher herself -- but he was the sort of kid who questioned everything and didn't believe in turning in his schoolwork. So when he was 18, he dropped out of Case and moved to Kentucky to live with some friends who were going to college.

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"The teachers knew I was smart, but they had to fail me," he said. "I was so frustrating to them, but they had no idea I would never forget what some of them said. I cannot love teachers enough."

Thirteen years later, the pain of the day he dropped out is still raw for his parents. His mom's eyes filled with tears just thinking about it.

"The day he left, I just fell to the floor," Lillie Eick said.

"It broke my heart; it just took everything out of me," Dick Eick said.

It wasn't long, though, before the fact that his life was going nowhere became pretty apparent. (Busing tables at the Radisson while your roommates go to college can do that to you.) So he got his GED and called his parents with a proposition: if he attended college, could he move back home?

"I knew he could be an asset," said Dick Eick. And they watched as their troubled teenager attended MATC, graduated from UW-Milwaukee and earned his graduate degree at UW-Lacrosse.

HIRED BY RUSD

Five years ago, he was hired by Racine Unified School District -- the same district where he'd dropped out.

Eick feels like his experience has made him a better teacher.

"I think a lot of teachers did well in school, and that's great, but I am a good resource for kids who don't do well," he said. "I have a different perspective."

Eick now teaches ninth grade U.S. History and World Geography to a mixed class of ninth graders through seniors. That's the class that really lights him up -- he loves the mix of ages and abilities.

"I love the idea of the one-room schoolhouse. They learn as much from each other as they do from me," he said.

Eick's experience as a dropout has led him to make some interesting rules for his classroom:

  • No seating charts.
  • No "zeros" in the grade book. ("I grade them on what they do, not what they don't do.")
  • Very little paper work.
  • Value the student before the curriculum.
  • Forget about the textbook.

"I despise the textbook," he said. "It's boring and it gets in the way."

His teaching style means that sometimes things get a little crazy.

"Moments of chaos can lead to moments of brilliance," he said. "I want them to remember when learning was fun, and I trick into learning."

Eick is also a leader in Racine's teachers union, and he frequently runs into old teachers who thought he was a lost cause.

"I have gotten some awkward moments with former teachers," he said. "But I will never forget what some of my teachers said to me. There were adults at Case who saved my life, who became my intellectual and social guides and made me the person I am today."Β 

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