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From the battlefield to the classroom, Schmidt excels
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| Alan Schmidt at Benson Middle School. (Thelma Grimes/photo.) |
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Just talking to Alan Schmidt can be energizing, but when you listen to his accomplishments, and look at what he is doing for students at Benson Middle School, the word hero comes to mind.
Schmidt isn't your average teacher. He didn't get out of high school, go to college and enter the classroom. He didn't know he wanted to become a teacher. At 17, preparing to graduate from Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, Schmidt had already promised to join the Marine Corps.
Following in his brother David's footsteps, Schmidt joined the military, enlisting in the delayed-entry program a year before he graduated from high school in 1999.
He graduated from boot camp in October the next year. After boot camp, Schmidt went through infantry training and finally Military Occupational Specialty Training.
"Some of my motivation was it was nice to have the GI (which pays the cost of education) Bill; it was nice to have the discipline," he said. "I really could not have gotten through college without the military. I was very unfocused. My GPA in high school was a 2.2. I graduated from college with a 3.2. The discipline you learn in the Marines really prioritizes your life."
Graduating from the University of Arizona, Schmidt made the Dean's list several times before getting his education degree.
Schmidt became a bulk-fuel specialist in the Marines, which meant receiving and distributing gas and diesel fuel to every vehicle or aircraft the military has. He was part of a fuel unit out of Tucson.
In the military, Schmidt was part of the active reserves program. Schmidt was activated before Operation Iraqi Freedom started in 2003.
"It was January 10; I could never forget that day," Schmidt said. "We had reserve training. They called us in and said we are going to Iraq. We had four days to get ready to go. It was a scary moment. Your world as you know it changes. I believe in God, I believe there is life after death, but you don't know what's going to happen. Saying goodbye to everyone, packing and writing wills was tough. It was an extreme test to get it all ready in four days."
Schmidt gave his dad power of attorney, noting that without him he doesn't know how at 22 he could have done everything.
By the end of January, Schmidt was in Kuwait where his unit began building a six-inch pipeline to move fuel into Iraq. They were charged with putting together a rapid fuel system in preparation for the start of war.
"They placed us in the absolute middle of the desert," he said. "A lot of people felt scared, but I had my best friend, my brother and my roommate with me. We lived like sardines the entire time. They didn't have showers. Thank God for baby wipes."
Recalling the night the war actually began and the U.S. went through Kuwait to invade Iraq, Schmidt said it was tough on his unit and all soldiers.
"We were told you have 48 hours and we're going in," Schmidt said. "They started the air attack and we got put into our little foxholes. We were in full chemical suits so if any biological or chemical warfare came to us we would be prepared. Not only that, but we had a gas mask on, and a lot of people were hyperventilating. When you are seeing bombs going off, it's at that moment in that foxhole you are thinking they might be returning fire.
"You never realize how big of a Christian you are until you are faced with a tragedy, or with a situation like that. I was praying, I was praying to God that if this was my time I hoped he would accept me into heaven and I loved everyone and hoped I had a good enough life. Some guys couldn't handle it, but I was at peace.
"It brings you to the realization of life. Petty things you are concerned with in everyday life, you are not concerned with at that moment. You could care less. It really realigns what's important in life, and I'm not the same person after that moment. I'm not saying I was scared to death and thought I was going to die, but I did realize what's important to me."
After that night, Schmidt said his unit was loaded up and moved into Iraq. With no sleep in the first few days, and constant moving, they were sent to what is known as a fuel farm where about two million gallons of fuel was stored, and soldiers refueled tanks, hummers and all other military convoys 24 hours a day.
"You were never off," he said. "All we did was fuel. Fifty to 100 vehicles would come in, refuel and go. There would be four or five convoys lined up at once. We were pumping fuel as fast as possible for like five hours straight. Then there would be 10 hours with no convoys."
In the middle of nowhere on the southeast edge of Iraq, Schmidt said the heat and job took its toll on his unit. He weighed 230 pounds when he left the States, but the 22-year-old came back at 175.
"We slept in hot tents and ate MREs the entire time," he said. "We at least got bottled water. Sometimes MREs were in short supply. We were eating 6,000 calories a day, but you were constantly burning them. I was drinking five gallons of water a day because it was so hot, and then you were carrying 35 to 40 pounds in equipment nonstop."
This became life for Schmidt for the first month. He continued to fuel the U.S. military as needed, but got no news from the outside world. When he finally got his first letter from home, the Tucsonan said he cried.
"The most difficult part about being there is not knowing what is going on at home," he said. "The first month to six weeks you just didn't hear anything. You cry when you get that first letter. The stupidest letter, but you read it 20 times. Nothing stopped the day like mail call."
After six months in the Iraqi desert, Schmidt said his unit was finally relieved by an active-duty unit, and he returned home.
"My war experience wasn't nearly what other people's has been," Schmidt said. "I didn't have to shoot anybody. I didn't fire a weapon once. A couple people in our battalion lost their lives, but no one close to me. Yes, you see death, and you see it around, but you don't actually experience it. Coming home was a celebration."
But the veteran didn't come home to stay and hadn't finished serving his country. With a degree in education from the University of Arizona, Schmidt joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Bulgaria to help their school system.
"My experience in Iraq showed me you see poor kids and you see life a different way," Schmidt said.
Signing up for the Peace Corps in 2004, Schmidt said he originally wanted to go to Africa, but was sent to Bulgaria in Eastern Europe.
"It used to be a communist country, and now it's a democracy, but they still have a lot of problems with democracy," Schmidt said. "I grew up poor and didn't have the advantages others had, but I grew up in America and had the opportunities to succeed. I was able to graduate from college."
In Bulgaria, Schmidt said he learned quickly that despite becoming a democracy, the country had many issues with student motivation.
"They use corporal punishment in schools," Schmidt said. "Trying to change the system is very difficult. Trying to develop positive reinforcement is very challenging. It's probably one of the most challenging things I've done."
The objective in his time there was to take a grass-roots approach to spread America's education system to other countries, and bring some of their ideals back.
"This was even more challenging than Iraq," he said. "There were times in Bulgaria where I really wanted to come home. I wanted to give up and say it's not worth it. It's too hard. You are fighting battles all day long for free."
Some of the battles involved students' lack of respect for authority. Schmidt said financing is a problem there, and if a student fails, their parents will remove them from that school and enroll them in another. That school then gets the funding for that student.
Schmidt said there are no principals, detention or suspension. Everything had to be taken care of by the teacher in class, and many students ignored it.
Schmidt said in one instance an eighth-grader had her cell phone in class. He asked for it and she refused. He couldn't punish her, couldn't do anything about it. Schmidt said he tried peer pressure, punishing the entire class for that student's actions, but it didn't matter.
As Bulgaria's population decreases, Schmidt said the school he worked at went from 700 students to 300, and half the teaching staff was cut. In those tough times, every student counts toward getting money in the school, he said.
"People are leaving the villages to go to the main cities," he said. "Schools are closing down, and kids know they can't fail. There is no recourse. You have no motivation. During the time of communism the kids were well behaved and listened. Now they are in the middle. They do not have the communism, and they do not have the American system."
After some time, Schmidt said he understood the reason for the Peace Corps, but he also felt like a pawn in a political game. The U.S. gives countries aid, and then at some point wants something in return.
"It got to a point where I was asking why I was living my life to something that was using me as a figure head," he said. "I married a Bulgarian, and if it wasn't for my wife giving me the courage to stay, I would have never survived."
After about two years of teaching middle-school students in another country, Schmidt said he did a phone interview with Shad Housley, the Benson Middle School principal, and lined up a job here.
In August, Schmidt began teaching sixth-graders in Benson, and has taken charge, becoming director of the after-school program, and impressing administrators.
David Woodall, superintendent of the district, said Schmidt is definitely energetic, and someone they would like to hold on to for many years to come.
For Schmidt, becoming a teacher for middle-school students was important to him. He feels that reaching out to the students at the younger age is very important, noting it was for him.
Taking the same approach to the classroom he used in the military, Schmidt said he hopes to be a leader, to make a difference in the lives of his students.
"The reward you get when you help students, the look on their faces when they know you care about them is more than anything. Knowing you can make a difference in their lives," he said. "I was a problem child who didn't care about school, and I had teachers who changed me. If I know that what I do will change at least one student, my efforts are worth it. I believe education is more than teaching materials. It's about changing students. I am a teacher of life. You can do so many other things for more money, but this is where I want to be."
The classroom isn't the only place Schmidt wants to be. His country is still a priority.
Schmidt said he missed the comradery of the military, so he joined the National Guard, taking one weekend a month to train. He will be commissioned as a second lieutenant in August of 2010.
"There's nothing I miss more than being in the military," he said. "I became closer to the men I served with in Iraq in six months, than I did with friends I had for 16 years. When everyday life goes away, you have to share parts of your life that you wouldn't share with anyone else. When you go through something so difficult and so hard, you build bonds and a brotherhood. That's something that you cannot match anywhere else - knowing that someone will risk their life to save yours. You can't find that anywhere else."
In the National Guard, Schmidt said he is already getting close to his fellow soldiers. Even more so than the fellow teachers he's worked with for the last nine months.
Besides Bulgaria and Iraq, Schmidt has also gone for training in Alaska, Japan and many other places throughout the world.
Schmidt, a Marine Corps veteran, world traveler, teacher, global volunteer and member of the National Guard, is a mere 28 years young.
Just talking to Alan Schmidt can be energizing, but when you listen to his accomplishments, and look at what he is doing for students at Benson Middle School, the word hero comes to mind.
Schmidt isn't your average teacher. He didn't get out of high school, go to college and enter the classroom. He didn't know he wanted to become a teacher. At 17, preparing to graduate from Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, Schmidt had already promised to join the Marine Corps.
Following in his brother David's footsteps, Schmidt joined the military, enlisting in the delayed-entry program a year before he graduated from high school in 1999.
He graduated from boot camp in October the next year. After boot camp, Schmidt went through infantry training and finally Military Occupational Specialty Training.
"Some of my motivation was it was nice to have the GI (which pays the cost of education) Bill; it was nice to have the discipline," he said. "I really could not have gotten through college without the military. I was very unfocused. My GPA in high school was a 2.2. I graduated from college with a 3.2. The discipline you learn in the Marines really prioritizes your life."
Graduating from the University of Arizona, Schmidt made the Dean's list several times before getting his education degree.
Schmidt became a bulk-fuel specialist in the Marines, which meant receiving and distributing gas and diesel fuel to every vehicle or aircraft the military has. He was part of a fuel unit out of Tucson.
In the military, Schmidt was part of the active reserves program. Schmidt was activated before Operation Iraqi Freedom started in 2003.
"It was January 10; I could never forget that day," Schmidt said. "We had reserve training. They called us in and said we are going to Iraq. We had four days to get ready to go. It was a scary moment. Your world as you know it changes. I believe in God, I believe there is life after death, but you don't know what's going to happen. Saying goodbye to everyone, packing and writing wills was tough. It was an extreme test to get it all ready in four days."
Schmidt gave his dad power of attorney, noting that without him he doesn't know how at 22 he could have done everything.
By the end of January, Schmidt was in Kuwait where his unit began building a six-inch pipeline to move fuel into Iraq. They were charged with putting together a rapid fuel system in preparation for the start of war.
"They placed us in the absolute middle of the desert," he said. "A lot of people felt scared, but I had my best friend, my brother and my roommate with me. We lived like sardines the entire time. They didn't have showers. Thank God for baby wipes."
Recalling the night the war actually began and the U.S. went through Kuwait to invade Iraq, Schmidt said it was tough on his unit and all soldiers.
"We were told you have 48 hours and we're going in," Schmidt said. "They started the air attack and we got put into our little foxholes. We were in full chemical suits so if any biological or chemical warfare came to us we would be prepared. Not only that, but we had a gas mask on, and a lot of people were hyperventilating. When you are seeing bombs going off, it's at that moment in that foxhole you are thinking they might be returning fire.
"You never realize how big of a Christian you are until you are faced with a tragedy, or with a situation like that. I was praying, I was praying to God that if this was my time I hoped he would accept me into heaven and I loved everyone and hoped I had a good enough life. Some guys couldn't handle it, but I was at peace.
"It brings you to the realization of life. Petty things you are concerned with in everyday life, you are not concerned with at that moment. You could care less. It really realigns what's important in life, and I'm not the same person after that moment. I'm not saying I was scared to death and thought I was going to die, but I did realize what's important to me."
After that night, Schmidt said his unit was loaded up and moved into Iraq. With no sleep in the first few days, and constant moving, they were sent to what is known as a fuel farm where about two million gallons of fuel was stored, and soldiers refueled tanks, hummers and all other military convoys 24 hours a day.
"You were never off," he said. "All we did was fuel. Fifty to 100 vehicles would come in, refuel and go. There would be four or five convoys lined up at once. We were pumping fuel as fast as possible for like five hours straight. Then there would be 10 hours with no convoys."
In the middle of nowhere on the southeast edge of Iraq, Schmidt said the heat and job took its toll on his unit. He weighed 230 pounds when he left the States, but the 22-year-old came back at 175.
"We slept in hot tents and ate MREs the entire time," he said. "We at least got bottled water. Sometimes MREs were in short supply. We were eating 6,000 calories a day, but you were constantly burning them. I was drinking five gallons of water a day because it was so hot, and then you were carrying 35 to 40 pounds in equipment nonstop."
This became life for Schmidt for the first month. He continued to fuel the U.S. military as needed, but got no news from the outside world. When he finally got his first letter from home, the Tucsonan said he cried.
"The most difficult part about being there is not knowing what is going on at home," he said. "The first month to six weeks you just didn't hear anything. You cry when you get that first letter. The stupidest letter, but you read it 20 times. Nothing stopped the day like mail call."
After six months in the Iraqi desert, Schmidt said his unit was finally relieved by an active-duty unit, and he returned home.
"My war experience wasn't nearly what other people's has been," Schmidt said. "I didn't have to shoot anybody. I didn't fire a weapon once. A couple people in our battalion lost their lives, but no one close to me. Yes, you see death, and you see it around, but you don't actually experience it. Coming home was a celebration."
But the veteran didn't come home to stay and hadn't finished serving his country. With a degree in education from the University of Arizona, Schmidt joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Bulgaria to help their school system.
"My experience in Iraq showed me you see poor kids and you see life a different way," Schmidt said.
Signing up for the Peace Corps in 2004, Schmidt said he originally wanted to go to Africa, but was sent to Bulgaria in Eastern Europe.
"It used to be a communist country, and now it's a democracy, but they still have a lot of problems with democracy," Schmidt said. "I grew up poor and didn't have the advantages others had, but I grew up in America and had the opportunities to succeed. I was able to graduate from college."
In Bulgaria, Schmidt said he learned quickly that despite becoming a democracy, the country had many issues with student motivation.
"They use corporal punishment in schools," Schmidt said. "Trying to change the system is very difficult. Trying to develop positive reinforcement is very challenging. It's probably one of the most challenging things I've done."
The objective in his time there was to take a grass-roots approach to spread America's education system to other countries, and bring some of their ideals back.
"This was even more challenging than Iraq," he said. "There were times in Bulgaria where I really wanted to come home. I wanted to give up and say it's not worth it. It's too hard. You are fighting battles all day long for free."
Some of the battles involved students' lack of respect for authority. Schmidt said financing is a problem there, and if a student fails, their parents will remove them from that school and enroll them in another. That school then gets the funding for that student.
Schmidt said there are no principals, detention or suspension. Everything had to be taken care of by the teacher in class, and many students ignored it.
Schmidt said in one instance an eighth-grader had her cell phone in class. He asked for it and she refused. He couldn't punish her, couldn't do anything about it. Schmidt said he tried peer pressure, punishing the entire class for that student's actions, but it didn't matter.
As Bulgaria's population decreases, Schmidt said the school he worked at went from 700 students to 300, and half the teaching staff was cut. In those tough times, every student counts toward getting money in the school, he said.
"People are leaving the villages to go to the main cities," he said. "Schools are closing down, and kids know they can't fail. There is no recourse. You have no motivation. During the time of communism the kids were well behaved and listened. Now they are in the middle. They do not have the communism, and they do not have the American system."
After some time, Schmidt said he understood the reason for the Peace Corps, but he also felt like a pawn in a political game. The U.S. gives countries aid, and then at some point wants something in return.
"It got to a point where I was asking why I was living my life to something that was using me as a figure head," he said. "I married a Bulgarian, and if it wasn't for my wife giving me the courage to stay, I would have never survived."
After about two years of teaching middle-school students in another country, Schmidt said he did a phone interview with Shad Housley, the Benson Middle School principal, and lined up a job here.
In August, Schmidt began teaching sixth-graders in Benson, and has taken charge, becoming director of the after-school program, and impressing administrators.
David Woodall, superintendent of the district, said Schmidt is definitely energetic, and someone they would like to hold on to for many years to come.
For Schmidt, becoming a teacher for middle-school students was important to him. He feels that reaching out to the students at the younger age is very important, noting it was for him.
Taking the same approach to the classroom he used in the military, Schmidt said he hopes to be a leader, to make a difference in the lives of his students.
"The reward you get when you help students, the look on their faces when they know you care about them is more than anything. Knowing you can make a difference in their lives," he said. "I was a problem child who didn't care about school, and I had teachers who changed me. If I know that what I do will change at least one student, my efforts are worth it. I believe education is more than teaching materials. It's about changing students. I am a teacher of life. You can do so many other things for more money, but this is where I want to be."
The classroom isn't the only place Schmidt wants to be. His country is still a priority.
Schmidt said he missed the comradery of the military, so he joined the National Guard, taking one weekend a month to train. He will be commissioned as a second lieutenant in August of 2010.
"There's nothing I miss more than being in the military," he said. "I became closer to the men I served with in Iraq in six months, than I did with friends I had for 16 years. When everyday life goes away, you have to share parts of your life that you wouldn't share with anyone else. When you go through something so difficult and so hard, you build bonds and a brotherhood. That's something that you cannot match anywhere else - knowing that someone will risk their life to save yours. You can't find that anywhere else."
In the National Guard, Schmidt said he is already getting close to his fellow soldiers. Even more so than the fellow teachers he's worked with for the last nine months.
Besides Bulgaria and Iraq, Schmidt has also gone for training in Alaska, Japan and many other places throughout the world.
Schmidt, a Marine Corps veteran, world traveler, teacher, global volunteer and member of the National Guard, is a mere 28 years young.
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Jim Guittard wrote on Jun 5, 2009 10:49 AM: