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Educator Warren Samuel watches as students enter
Warren Samuel, who is retiring this year, works with David Harper while Monique Mora waits her turn during shop class at Caroline Middle School.
Warren Samuel teaches seventh-graders some wood working skills during one of his classes |
For the past 30 years, the world has been Warren Samuel's classroom.
That includes the agricultural camp he has bused his Caroline Middle School students to each summer.
And the 100-year-old pond next to his house where he has let students fish--provided they don't drink or smoke.
It also includes the rest of his Ruther Glen property, where the agriculture teacher recently helped an eighth-grader identify trees.
"Getting in there with them in something other than the classroom, they get to know you in a different light," said Samuel, 55, who has spent all but one year in Caroline County since he began teaching in 1978.
Samuel, who has become something of an institution in the county, will be leaving the classroom after this school year.
"I just want some time for myself before I die," he said.
Though his retirement is imminent, he has made a lasting impression on his students, at least seven of whom became state officers of FFA, formerly called Future Farmers of America. His classroom wall is adorned with plaques won at FFA contests.
MAKING AN IMPACT
For years, Samuel said, his students have beaten area high-schoolers in the forestry competition, in which competitors identify trees and equipment as well as a tree's volume and value.
"It's right involved," Samuel said.
He remembers group chats during FFA camps in Smithfield in which everybody would hold a candle and talk. Some said they didn't think they'd like Samuel's class.
"Then they'd get to talking about how I'd taken them here and done that--changed their life. I mean, it was real moving. I'll never forget that," he said.
Samuel, who sings at funerals and weddings, has even belted out some old Eagles tunes during camp.
"I would tell them, 'You'll have to come to camp to see what I do in the talent show,'" he said with a laugh. He never competed, but sang while the judges decided on winners.
FFA leadership and recreation camps used to last eight weeks, he said, but have declined over the years.
"But we always kept on going," he said. "We had, like, 30 kids and we'd be the only ones there. And really, we'd still have a good time."
This year, he's taking Caroline's FFA students to a five-day camp at Graves' Mountain Lodge in Madison County because the land in Smithfield was sold.
ROOTED IN CAROLINE
Samuel grew up on a 100-acre farm along the North Anna River in Caroline. He attended C.T. Smith High School--now Ladysmith Elementary--and has no plans to leave Caroline.
He has two children and has been married for 32 years.
"I live a very simple life, don't need a lot of money," he said. "I have my church, my softball, my family, my gardening. That's all I need."
Samuel said he plays more than 100 softball games a year in Henrico and Hanover counties.
But it's obvious he's dedicated to students. After school recently, he and two youngsters pulled weeds from a flower bed in front of Caroline Middle. They later planted tomato seeds for a makeshift greenhouse outside Samuel's classroom.
"It's fun helping out," said 12-year-old Cleia Lovejoy. She was partnered with 14-year-old Robbie Johnson, who said Samuel explains topics better than other teachers.
"I like to be with any kids when they want to work," Samuel said. "They stay because they want to stay. I figure they're doing something good, and they're learning at the same time."
WILL MISS CLASSROOM
Over the years, Samuel and his students have laid mulch outside Caroline Middle and planted trees and flowers.
With a smile, he said he wants his gravestone to read: "Keeper of the soil. Now a part of it."
He has also taught students how to build everything from birdhouses to gun racks, and sometimes plays softball with them after school. A couple weeks ago, he talked with sixth-grade classes about oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.
After he retires, Samuel said, his days will go something like this: One-mile walk in the morning, 30-minute ride on a stationary bike, mowing the grass, gardening, fishing and softball.
Still, he knows the transition will be hard.
"I'm going to miss it, I can tell you that," Samuel said. "I might sit out a year and want to come back. Who knows?"
Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402
Email: jbranscome@freelancestar.com
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"He's one of those teachers that on a daily basis will do anything for any kid, and they know it. You don't ever want to use the word 'irreplaceable' as a manager, but man, those shoes, I don't know if they can be filled."
--Caroline Middle School Principal Harold Pellegreen
"His genuine love for agricultural education and helping students achieve success is clear in whatever Mr. Samuel is doing, whether it be teaching a student to write "Everything positive that's happened in my life, I can truly attribute to him. I know that he can't be replaced. |
