For Lake, education is a longtime commitment
New Plymouth educator gains accolades from Fruitland chamber
By Brandi Mack
Argus Observer
Thursday, January 17, 2008 1:08 PM PST
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| Fred Lake has been chosen as the Fruitland Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year. Lake retired from teaching for one year but now instructs physical education part-time for the Fruitland School District. |
FRUITLAND — Fred Lake said he went into the education field 32 years ago to become a physical education teacher.
Now, after retirement, he finally fulfilled his lifelong goal to teach P.E.
Lake, 60, retired last year after 24 years as a third-grade instructor at Fruitland Elementary School. As it turned out, though, he wasn’t away from the teaching field for very long.
At the beginning of the 2007 to 2008 academic year, the Fruitland Intermediate School principal called Lake and asked if he wanted to come teach fourth- and fifth-grade P.E. four days a week for two hours a day.
The idea sounded good to Lake.
“I thought, ‘what can be better than that,’” Lake said. “I come down here for coffee every morning anyways, I might as well stay a couple extra hours and do what I love. I am still home by 11:15 a.m. most days.”
That kind of dedication prompted the Fruitland Chamber of Commerce to name Lake its Educator of the Year.
The Fruitland Chamber of Commerce Installation Banquet will begin at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at Nichols Steakhouse in Fruitland. Those attending will have a choice of chicken cordon bleu, prime rib or shrimp for their dinner. Tickets are $25 each and are available at the chamber office.
Lake said he has also taught sixth- and first-grade classes for a combined six years. Lake said when he was in the sixth-grade, he knew he wanted to become a teacher.
“I had this teacher, Mr. Jones, he did it all. I wanted to be just like him,” Lake said. “I really admired him as a teacher.”
Lake went to college and received his secondary P.E. teaching degree and student taught in Spokane, Wash. He taught the third-grade during his student teaching stint. When he received a call for teaching, he was asked to teach the first-grade.
“I loved it, but I wasn’t very good at it,” Lake said. “It was all the cutesy stuff, and I am just not good with the cutesy stuff.”
Lake said he then taught sixth-grade for four years and enjoyed the students individually, but he just could not handle them as a whole.
After teaching first- and sixth-grades, he moved to the third-grade and said he really enjoyed it.
Now, 32 years later, after a year of retirement, he said he loves being back in the school again.
“I still get to be around the kids, and that’s great,” Lake said.
Lake and his wife, Linda, have two sons and two grandchildren.
His wife is a kindergarten teacher at New Plymouth Elementary School.
“In my mind, my wife deserves this award more than I do,” Lake said. “She works harder than any person that I know.”
During his retirement, Lake said he did a lot of nothing. He taught, walked the dog and that was about it, he said.
“Right now, I plan on doing this for a while, this part-time thing. If they let me,” Lake said. “I don’t think there’s anybody that has a better job than me. I went to school to be a PE teacher. Now, 32 year later, here I am. It just doesn’t get any better than this.”
