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In a Class by Himself

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Graduation Day had come and with it the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance.” In royal blue caps and gowns, Burbank High School’s Class of ’96 marched down from the grassy slope above the Starlight Amphitheater to take their seats. Waiting on stage were school officials, their gowns all black and serious.

There was one exception. On the day after his 60th birthday, teacher Bill North had elected to wear the blue of a graduating senior. He was, in a sense, graduating for a second time from Burbank High, retiring after more than 37 years of teaching, the last 21 at his alma mater. Before too long, Mr. North, as the students call him, would step to the dais. The students stood and cheered in his honor.

First he asked everyone to say hi to his mother, Jeanne, who had watched her boy graduate at the Starlight in 1954. “Mom and I think this is so much fun,” Mr. North said, “we’re going to do this every 42 years.”

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Mr. North, local legend, is known for his wit, kindness and a unique talent for teaching. Ask around Burbank High and the testimony becomes overwhelming. Mr. North came from the same mold as the storied Mr. Chips. He is one of those beloved teachers who routinely rise above the call of duty.

When it was first suggested that Mr. North’s retirement might be newsworthy, I was dubious, especially since it was Mrs. North who make the suggestion. A teacher herself, Barbara North gave me some phone numbers of colleagues and former students who all said that, yes, Mr. North was the real deal.

“There’s not a person there who doesn’t love the guy,” said math teacher Clyde Richards. The clincher came when I called Burbank police, leaving a message for an officer who had been one of Mr. North’s students. It so happened that Officer Jeff Goenner, Burbank High Class of ‘82, took the message. Mr. North “was one of the best teachers a kid could ever have,” Goenner declared. “He was great.”

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And so there was Bill North at the dais in royal blue, reflecting on how Burbank High had changed in the 42 years since his first graduation. From the crowd came a girl’s voice:

“Mr. North! Mr. North!” Back then, Mr. North quipped, “We didn’t have students interrupt us for one thing.”

Helen Diab, 17, came out of the throng and stepped on stage, doing her modern Valley Girl routine from the movie “Clueless,” marked with such catch phrases as the sarcastically dismissive “as if!” and the grudgingly tolerant “what-ever.” This was a little skit Mr. North and Helen had worked out on their own. When Mr. North tried to share some of Burbank High’s heritage, Helen reacted with a non sequitur.

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Helen: “Did I tell you Bullock’s changed to Macy’s?”

Mr. North: “But, Helen, I’m trying to talk about history.”

Helen: “I’m talking about history too. Bullock’s is history.”

And so on. In Mr. North’s economics class, Helen declared, she learned that “the more credit cards you use, the more credit cards you get.” And when Helen protested one of her grades, explaining how hard she worked for an A, Mr. North could only say, “As if!”

Soon the skit was over, but Helen wasn’t leaving the stage, not just yet. Mr. North seemed visibly puzzled, uncertain what to do, as Helen kept talking. She was serious now, not clueless, in offering a tribute.

“You take the time to get to know students,” she said for all to hear. “You listen with an open heart . . . You make learning fun.”

And so, Helen explained, there would be a presentation. To Mr. North’s obvious surprise, an assistant principal stepped forward with a yellow firefighter’s coat, marked with his name and the declaration that he is a No. 1 Teacher. Why a firefighter’s coat? Everybody at Burbank High knows about Mr. North’s fascination with firetrucks, about how he can even tell their sirens apart.

Graduation Day was, in fact, the crown of a series of events, large and small, that marked Mr. North’s retirement. When a retirement party was held at the Castaway restaurant in May, arrangements were made for the Burbank Fire Department to chauffeur Mr. North in one of its engines. About 200 colleagues and former students roasted him in tribute.

“Only this year I learned his first name wasn’t mister,” said Blair Ridgewood, a student from the late ‘70s. Other former students dropped by Burbank High to pay their respects.

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And, because of Mrs. North’s persistence, Mr. North was asked about the secret of his success.

Mr. North can remember the moment he decided to become a teacher.

“I was a senior at Burbank High, sitting in a classroom that was dingy, with a long-term sub who was just terrible. And it dawned on me. I was thinking, ‘I could do better than this.’ ”

He went to UCLA and absorbed the latest in educational methodology. At his first job at John Muir Junior High, Principal Bob Leland monitored his first few weeks of work.

“I was busy showing him all the fancy teaching techniques I learned at UCLA. He had a troubled look on his face . . . Finally, he said to me, ‘Why don’t you do it the way you want?’

“And that just hit me. I realized, in this business, nobody had all the answers.” And so Mr. North set out to do it his way.

“Forever Young” was the theme of Burbank High’s commencement. The logical question was, why had Mr. North decided to retire?

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“I’m just thinking it’s time to do some other things. I wanted to leave teaching before I burned out and got a little funny--funny as in peculiar, you know . . . Some of them stay just a little bit too long.”

Mr. North didn’t put it this way, but it seemed he wanted to be like the athlete who retires as a champion, before anyone can say he’s over the hill.

Retirement, he says, will give him more time for his hobby, woodworking. But there’s also some talk that he’ll drop by Burbank High from time to time. He’s been the yearbook advisor the last 10 years; perhaps the staff will need some help next year.

It seems to be the kind of talk that no one wants to discourage, least of all Mr. North.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to Harris at the Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Please include a phone number.

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