Mr. English: marked up

“This isn’t Burger King. You don’t get it your way. You take it my way, or you don’t get the damn thing!”

He starts the school year by throwing his students out into the deep end with one test and two essays over three summer reading books, within the first two weeks of school. If they haven’t “drowned” by then, and their grade resembles some sort of promise, then congratulations to them. If not, well then, as he likes to say, “drop the course!”

And if that didn’t scare them away, he quickly follows with a realization, “Oh, and by the way,” he remembers, “you still have at least twenty two more essays left.”

Welcome to AP English IV.

Mr. Andy Hagedorn, English department chair, leads his classroom with this sarcastic and direct attitude. His expectation for all his students to produce their best work possible has been a defining trademark for not only his class but also the whole English department. Although challenging, the test numbers speak for themselves; last year 94 percent of students in AP English IV who took the Literature and Writing AP tests scored a 4 or 5.

And yet, it wasn’t always this way. Since his appointment as English Department Chair in 1995, the changes he has made to the curriculum have made the English Department one of the strongest in the school. These changes stemmed from lessons he has learned from his life; lessons that have stayed with him to this day.

Keys to success:

1. Hard Work

2. Self-Discipline

3. Unquestioning Obedience

A long time ago, Mr. Hagedorn used to be a young “rascal” that went to school everyday like any other Rockhurst student.  Ever since he was a boy, he had always wanted to teach.  He mostly liked school, and looked to his older brother and older cousin, both teachers, as role models.

His German parents were first generation Americans, and he holds the discipline and work ethic instilled in him by his father and mother closely. This heritage is seen through his attitude toward grades. He gives good grades “German” and bad grades “French.”

“His German influence had a 100 percent effect on him. He is very proud of his background,” Dr. Jorge Taracido, Spanish teacher and close friend, said.

The Jesuits also had a similar effect on him as a youth. In graduate school, Mr. Hagedorn had two research papers due at the end of the semester. When he was at the library working on the papers, he realized that he could not do both papers and still get a B in both courses. Just as he pushed back his chair to leave, the Jesuits seemed to come out of nowhere screaming, “No, you don’t do that, you expect the very best of yourself and you don’t settle for anything else!”

“Part of the German thing is work ethic, pride and engineering, and not settling for second best, and that is uncannily similar to my memories of the Jesuit teachers,” Mr. Hagedorn said.

After his first teaching job in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Hagedorn moved to California where he taught at Frances Parker School in San Diego. There, he met who would become one of the most influential people in his life: Dr. Douglas Crone, the headmaster of the school.

“If I could characterize what I got from him it is you have to work awfully hard to be successful, but at the same time you can have a lot of fun doing it,” Mr. Hagedorn said.

After Dr. Crone retired, Mr. Hagedorn decided to move on, sending applications to a variety of Jesuit schools throughout the country. In 1989, he accepted a job in Hawaii, but before it became official, as fate would have it, Rockhurst ended up hiring him that very same spring.

“German Motivator:

I may not vant to do it. But i must do it. So i vill do it. Und I vill do it vell!”

Before Mr. Hagedorn became chair of the English department there was no curriculum written down; there wasn’t even an essay writing curriculum in place. Each teacher did his or her own thing, as little consistency was kept among teachers of the same grade level. He wanted changes.

When he became Chair, he immediately sought fundamental alterations to the curriculum, specifically the creation of a writing curriculum. Surprisingly, according to Mr. Mike Heringer, counselor, he was met with some resistance at the beginning; some teachers at the time thought the intensity of the writing was too much to handle.

But being the German he is, he stuck to his emphasis on writing, organizing the curriculum and setting standards for the whole English department. The results were shocking. In the last ten years, the average AP score for Rockhurst students has been a 4.5, significantly higher than the national average of a 2.84.

But these test scores didn’t just happen overnight. They are the result of his class, his teaching style.

“Honors English and A.P. English are not spectator sports.”

Like the Jesuits who taught him, Mr. Hagedorn seeks the best out of his students. He describes his class as an “open community of scholars:” an opportunity for students to exchange thoughts and ideas.

“I like ideas. I like talking about ideas. I like having students share ideas. I like to know what they’re thinking,” Mr. Hagedorn said.

If not holding class discussions, he most likely is giving an in-class essay. While many of his students would classify his grading as difficult, he sees it as “accurate.”

“He has such a knowledge of the material that he is able to grade accurately and rigorously even though it is a subjective course,” junior Mack Bartle, current student, said.

He remembers one past student he had who, after three years in his class, finally received an A on his paper April of his senior year. The student hung up the essay on his refrigerator and received calls from the parents of his classmates later that night.

“That kind of thing is just really cool to watch. It’s the realization that I actually achieved something that’s really hard to get,” Mr. Hagedorn said.

“I love being an old man. The only problem is there’s no future in it.”

Mr. Hagedorn will admit that he is an old man; he even brags about his old man after school routine- take a nap, wake up, then go to bed. But he still teaches, even after 43 years.

“I just think it’s really neat to be proud of kids, proud of things they do, proud of the achievements they make…That’s one of the neatest things about teaching,” Mr. Hagedorn said.

Although not all 43 years were spent at Rockhurst, during the time he’s been here he has changed the English department and Rockhurst for the better.

“He upgraded the whole writing curriculum, which by far is one of the major strengths of the school,” Mr. Heringer said.

Mr. Heringer also mentioned that past students will come back in and talk with him about college, and during their discussion, he asks how well Rockhurst prepared him. According to Mr. Heringer, among other things, the student always mentions that Rockhurst taught him how to write.

Somewhere, Mr. Hagedorn is smiling.

 

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