Thursday, March 31, 2022
Got some sad news tonight that one of my high school teachers has passed away. Mr. Gerofsky taught me Chemistry and Physics and I was his student aide my senior year. I like to tell Caroline that I never got a B in a class throughout my high school career, and that's true. I did, however, earn Cs all the way through Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Not because I didn't have good teachers, but just because I was a lousy science student. I still recall Mr. Gerofsky giving me a pep talk at least once per quarter in an effort to encourage me. He often came across as grumpy and gruff at first but was definitely not the same once you got to know him.
I was surprised when he asked me to be his student aide and figured he had ulterior motives of trying to tutor me on stoichiometry or get me to care more about science. He didn't. He just liked having me around and we'd talk about everything but science since he was also Coach of the Academic Team and knew my love for random trivia and of my ability to memorize lots of information.
More than once, I surprised him with a correct answer in a science category at a competition, especially when I quickly blurted out the name of element #42 on the Periodic Table (Molybdenum.) He shook his head later and said "I bet you don't know what #43 is, Mr. Hanes," and of course I responded "Not a clue, Mr. Gerofsky." Another time when the correct answer was supposed to be the old Scottish poet Robert Burns, I answered "Bobby Burns." The judges were ready to rule against me and Mr. Gerofsky came to my defense (kind of), telling them of course I knew his proper name but that I referred to him as Bobby "simply to be annoying." Ha!
There were many days we'd sit in his room and discuss education and what it meant to be a teacher and his love for what he did. Neither of us knew it at the time, but he had a profound influence on me and the way in which I eventually taught in the classroom. He always spoke so highly of his wife Rochelle, also a teacher at LWHS at the time. He was also a bit ahead of his time in the use of technology in the classroom as he had several computers (in 1995) and we'd check our grades on printouts that he printed with our chosen secret code names. I still remember Jason Pelletier was "OU812'.
The world lost a good teacher and a good man. Farewell, Mr. Gerofsky.
Ocala (352) 414-4206 | The Villages (352) 561-8048 
Live Chat
Chat
