I Am An Unapologetic Teacher..............by Randy Hermansen

Randy: CHS Class of '66

In “Man and Superman,” George Bernard Shaw noted “He who can, Does. He who cannot, Teaches.” This quote is often used to disparage teachers. Well, I am both a graduate of the CHS Class of '66 and an unapologetic teacher of 40 years.

7th Grade Monroe Football: Randy Hermansen No. 23

While growing up and in my youth, I never gave teaching much of a thought, or coaching for that matter. In reflection, I now surmise that it was my destiny. I grew up in Aberdeen attending public elementary schools and later junior high school at Monroe. I participated in many sports but I guess I excelled mostly in football.

Team Leaders: Bob Lee, Randy, Steve Weflen

At Aberdeen Central, besides football, I was introduced to varsity wrestling as that program was initiated in 1964. In my senior year, even though our football team struggled with more losses than wins, I was fortunate in that I was voted a member of the South Dakota All-State Football team as a lineman.

Golden Eagles 1965-66

 

High School Wrestling

After high school, I attended Northern State University (NSU) from 1966-1971. Clark Swisher was my first football coach at NSU and I played football for four years. I was also on the wrestling team for two years, and the weightlifting team for 4 years. While a student at NSU, I also did some assistant coaching in Aberdeen at Simmons Junior High and Roncalli. I was a physical education major starting out in college. But in my third year, my NSU advisor suggested that I needed to concentrate on a minor degree. For unknown reasons I chose Mathematics. Following my NSU graduation, I was a mathematics teacher for the next 40 years to complement my coaching career.
I started my teaching and coaching career in 1971 at Eureka, SD. I spent the next 40 years interacting with high school students as a teacher and a coach, with 32 years in Eureka, 3 years in Herreid, 2 years in Warner, and 3 years at New Beginnings.

I fell in love with and married my wife, Dorothy Mack, in 1975. We have been married about 41 years and have been blessed with a son Charles, and a daughter Theresa, and their wonderful spouses. Charles teaches advanced placement chemistry at Central and Theresa teaches Kindergarten at O.M. Tiffany. 

During my career, I participated in coaching 72 seasons involving high school football, track, cross country, volley ball and wrestling. Our girls track teams had phenomenal results including 16 state individual champions, one state team championship and five runner-up state championships. Our mathematics team at Eureka won a state competition in 1992. Our successful girl’s teams have provided me with much prestige in my coaching career as I was named the 1983 South Dakota Girls Track Coach of the year, and a 2011 national finalist for girls track in the nation. I will be inducted into the South Dakota Track Coaches Hall of Fame in February of 2017. 

Yes, I am an unapologetic teacher who was fortunate to stumble into my profession. If I have been successful in my coaching and teaching career, it is because I had the honor of being around great kids who gave as well as they took. I want to thank them for making me look so good. I am so proud to be a teacher. I hope I had a positive impact on many boys and girls of South Dakota. I certainly owe my former students a debt of gratitude for making me a better teacher. They disproved an old Idiom put forth by the management of the Arthur D. Little, Inc. firm when they said, “You can’t make a Silk Purse out of a Sow’s Ear.”