File:Teacher Jack Mehl.jpg

Summary

hese photos are from the 1983-84 BHS yearbook which was dedicated to math teacher Jack Mehl (pronounced "mail" not "mell") in recognition of his contributions to the high school. During his career at Brunswick Jack was a classroom teacher; coached numerous different sports including football, baseball, and both boys and girls basketball; and served as the advisor to the Student Government Association. Jack also performed many quasi-administrative tasks such as helping to create the record keeping system for allowing clubs and study halls to meet during the school day. As anyone who sat in his classroom knows, Jack was well known for correcting students whenever they said "yeah" instead of "yes." Jack and I used to have discussions about allowing students to use calculators for tests covering basic math skills. I was against allowing the use of calculators because I thought high school students needed to have basic memorization skills when it came to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Jack believed that if students did not have these skills by HS they were not going to develop them and that calculators allowed students to engage in more problem solving applications. He and I were polar opposites when it came to politics and we often engaged in lively but fun debates on various issues. One thing we both shared was our fondness for betting on the ponies over at Charlestown Race Track. After retiring a few years back Jack went on to become, and still is, the Varsity Women's Basketball Coach at Hood College and is also involved in several support programs for helping students with their academic studies. Jack was one of the finest teachers I have ever known, and if I had to pick one word to describe him overall it would be he's a man of "integrity."

Courtesy of Jon Evans