Episode 48: Brad Marcy
John Twork 0:00
John, welcome to Redbird Buzz. I'm John Twork from University Marketing and Communications. Our guest today is Brad Marcy, a Springfield native and two time Illinois State University alum, who is a history and social science teacher and department chair at Leroy High School in Leroy, Illinois. Before enrolling at Illinois State, Marcy served in the US Army from age 19 through 25 and he spent six years deployed around the world, including in Iraq during the initial invasion in the Iraq war. When Marcy returned to civilian life, he majored in History, Social Sciences, teacher education, and later earned a master's degree in history. Now in his 14th year as an educator, Marcy, who is the College of Education Teacher of the Year, creates immersive history lessons that include creating battle shields and catapults, planning and hosting a world war two era themed hanger dance and cleaning the headstones military veterans. So
it's my pleasure to welcome Brad Marcy to Redbird Buzz. What's the word Redbird? Brad, Let's start talking about your military service, and I want to know when and why did you decide to join the army.
Brad Marcy 1:28
So I went to New Berlin High School, little town just west of Springfield, Illinois. And you know, I I wasn't that great of a student--I was capable, but never really driven to achieve at a high level academically. And my brother and sister were both stellar students, stand out students, and I knew that trying to go that same path, the academic path, right away, would I just kind of be in the shadow? And so I was trying to think of of ways that I could set myself apart. Lay my own my own path. And my father was an Army Ranger in Vietnam. My grandfather served in World War Two, fixed the bombers flying over the the Himalayas into China. And so, you know, the military was definitely a attractive option for me. I was always kind of the, maybe the risk taker in the family and, or, you know, the one who didn't assess risk very well before, before leaping and so, you know, I decided to go that route. I actually initially was looking at joining the Air National Guard, and they, you know, it's the Air Force, it's better food, better pay, better living conditions, everything. So they're not in any hurry to recruit people. And I wanted to go, like, I was like, let's go. I want to I want to be gone. And so they were taking too long. So I went over, and actually, I was Illinois Army National Guard, not active duty. I just volunteered for every mission that we got. And so I went over to the army side, talked to them. They're like, yeah, we can have gone in like a month. And so, yeah, I signed up Military Police Company out of Springfield.
John Twork 3:28
And so you spent six years traveling the world with your service to the country, including being deployed to Iraq as part of the initial invasion in the Iraq War. Can you talk about, just generally, your experience serving the country?
Brad Marcy 3:47
It was, you know, my life's honor, that hands down, I There are a lot of things about my father that I never understood, and I came to understand my my dad at a much deeper level after seeing some of the things he saw, you learn to appreciate, and this isn't just the war. This is, you know, Central America, or even even in Italy. You You You learn to appreciate some of the things that we have here in the states, some of our freedoms. I always joke with my students when we're doing government. My favorite government agency is the FDA, cuz, like, I like clean food and medicine, but you don't--You can't take that for granted when you're overseas. You know, just, just the small things that you learn to appreciate travel and get outside of our bubble, you know, I and then the war itself, you know, I definitely understood some some aspects of my father's personality a lot better. Uh, having experienced nothing the same, but things the same. You know, similar, same realm. And you know, there are times where the war was terrifying and there were times when it was boring. You know, there are times when you look around and you appreciate the beauty of a very ancient city. That's where the history nerd in me comes out. And then there are times when you curse the place. It's just you. There's a there's a gambit of emotions and and thoughts and memories that some you hold on to, and some you try like hell to get rid of. So yeah,
John Twork 5:47
in addition to Iraq, where all else were you deployed throughout your six years?
Brad Marcy 5:52
So, so again, I was National Guard, so I did, and anytime you know, they say you only do the two one week and then one two weeks a year that those days are gone. Yeah. And, and, because I was young and gung ho, I volunteered for whatever mission I could get. So all over stateside, many of the military posts stateside, but the the big notable ones, spent some time in Belize, Central America on a humanitarian mission down there, and spent some time in Germany, Poland and Italy. It was very rewarding.
John Twork 6:39
And you mentioned that the history nerd in you enjoyed some of that. So were you already into history and or was that sort of what, what set you set this interest in history in motion.
Brad Marcy 6:53
I'd always had a knack for history. It never really jumped out at me. I always thought once I became an MP, I was gonna get out eventually, someday, and cop, that's the natural flow that a lot of them do. But yeah, I the history side really didn't kick in until Iraq and there was, there was, I don't know where I heard the phrase or where the question came up, but someone, I think, talking to some buddies, you know, sitting in a fighting position somewhere, or someone, posed the question to me is, how is our war going to be told? How is it going to be taught? You know, what a future generations can know about what we're doing? And that just kept ringing in my head. And then, you know, being in Baghdad, Baghdad's very ancient city, the ancient city of Babylon, is right there. It sits right on the Tigris river. So the Tigris, Euphrates, Mesopotamia, all the, all the stuff that we teach. You know, it really just started getting those juices flowing and starting to appreciate that and wanting to be a part of making sure the future generations know and know accurately what's what's going on, what has happened, and what led to to whatever point they're sitting at. So,
John Twork 8:22
yeah, fast forwarding. Do you, do you teach the Iraq war now as a teacher?
Brad Marcy 8:29
um, yes, with I teach a dual credit Parkland class. So my my high school classes don't get up to current day, unfortunately, but my Parkland class, we do, we do get to the Iraq War. And inevitably, in the other classes, students will, will ask, you know, current event will come up, and they'll ask it, you know, I'm all about the teachable moment. You know, I'm not going to shut that down say, Oh no, we're talking about Alexander Hamilton today. No, you know, we're going to, we're going to go with with what their curiosity is, is is driving it so on that teachable moment, you know, we'll get into discussions of how we got there, and what would it what it was about? In the grand tradition of a history teacher, it's never a short answer. You know, I'm going to talk their ear off, but they they humor me, yeah.
John Twork 9:19
Do you think that history books have reflected it accurately, having actually been there?
Brad Marcy 9:26
I don't, I don't think I can. I think I'm too close to it, too biased, to give a fair session assessment of that. I think, let me give a caveat. I have not actually gone through a history book and looked at how it's covering the Iraq war, but just, you know, generally speaking, how the Iraq war is covered. I think they do their best. It's a very nuanced and complicated situation. And so I think they do their best in any getting closer to an understanding and better than nothing. So but yeah, I would struggle to say that they accurately, that anyone could accurately encompass everything that's going on, right, right, right?
John Twork 10:20
Yeah, that first hand accounts are so important because lived experience is, yes, unmatched.
Brad Marcy 10:27
and it's kind of like, and you know, any, if anyone's ever, anyone who's ever been interviewed, those you hate the way you sound afterwards, yeah, you know, like you, you hate the way you're like, I didn't mean to say like that, or that's not what I meant, or it's just never going to translate the way you want it to. And so I think that's the same thing with, you know, the book, there was actually a book written about my unit in Iraq. It's called Patrolling Baghdad, and it's available at Barnes and Noble, and a buddy of mine is on the cover, and they talk about, you know, very personal stories, like when I was when I was struck by a booby trap. And you know that the author never spoke with, never interviewed me, and so hearing a very personal story, you know, depicted about your experiences, and never having actually been asked about it. It rubs you wrong. It leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. So, but you can't interview everybody in a 300 person unit. I get that So, little bit, little bit of frustration there. But it's, part of the part goes with it,
John Twork 11:44
and you're part of history. So that's, yeah,
Brad Marcy 11:47
we all are actually great point.
John Twork 11:52
Let's segue to how you became a history teacher. You know, at what point it sounds like? You know, out of high school, you weren't quite sure what, what you wanted to do in the military. At one point you thought you'd probably become a cop. But when did it shift to, hey, I want to teach history when I get out of here?
Brad Marcy 12:12
So when I first, you know, was, was coming home, you start, you know. Okay, what next? What do we what do I do now? And I had been taking some college classes, you know, but I, after 911 we got pulled out, put it all the airports and, you know, and then I tried to go to school again, and, you know, got pulled out again. So, like, it was kind of a checkerboard transcript at that point. So now it's going to, you know, let's, let's make a decision. And I always thought I was going to be a lifer the army. I loved it and but after the war, I watched too many of my very close friends watch their kids grow up through pictures that were two months old and above anything else. I knew that I'm a family man, and I wanted to have a family someday, and I and so if that was going to be the one, the one thing about my life that I knew was that, and I figured, you know, I need to, I need to get my career going and get some college under my belt, get my career going so that I'm in a position where I can do that instead of waiting, you know, staying in the army and skipping around the world and then waiting until I meet the person and then starting all this, I'll be behind the ball eight ball even more. So I made the decision I was going to end my enlistment, or, well, finish out my enlistment, and then go back to college, but deciding on on teaching that came from my my brother and his wife are both in education, and they went to Illinois State University, and they settled right there in Bloomington Normal. And I liked visiting them, you know, I love the the community, and so, you know, that started look like an attractive option. Also, I have a really weird experience. I was, you know, the Dairy Queen right there on Main Street. Oh yeah, I was in that drive through very early after getting back. And I just happened to look to the right where that intersection is, and I saw a kid get hit on a motorcycle going through the intersection. And I've got medical training, and so I ran over there, left my car in the drive through, and worked on the kid, helped him as much as I could, until first responders got there. And that triggered some things, and I realized that maybe law enforcement because I was also considering fire as well, that maybe first responder is not not good for me anymore. Here, you know, it took some, brought back some memories, and that, I think that might have been the nail in the coffin for the, for the first responder type of career path. I just, you know, I'd had my hands in the blood, a little enough for a lifetime, I think, and was ready for something else. And so, you know, I really started looking at the the teaching approach. And that question was still ringing in my head, how do I were told? And so I, you know, went to Illinois State. Funny thing, I actually failed out Illinois State, my first time, my first attempt, [really?], yes, I I rushed it. I was not in a good head space. I had some, some PTSD, significant PTSD to deal with, and it was I should not have been going to school. Yet. It was hard for me to be on campus, the crowds, the backpacks, I was checking everyone's waistline, everyone's hands, watching doors, and you know, because you can't just shut that stuff off. And I ended up failing out, and which is not me, not me at all. And I ended up through some some, you know, guardian angels in my life. People directed me to where I needed to get some help, and the VA and that center in Springfield. And took some time, got some therapy. And then ISU has something called a fresh start program, where if you have extenuating circumstances like that, and you then go to a community college and you do really well there, then they let you back in. They won't vote against you. And you know, that was, that was the goal. And so I went to Heartland, straight as a Heartland, you know, after I had, I was in the right head space, and then came back into ISU. The only caveat is, you can't graduate with honors, which I would have the second time. But I understand that that's not fair. People did it right the first time. So, so I couldn't, couldn't graduate with honors, but that's because now the the Fresh Start program, and I'm really grateful that they have that program. It was really, really good for me. So
John Twork 17:33
well, if it's a consolation, in 2024 you're named Teacher of the Year. So that's, that's a pretty good honor, right?
Brad Marcy 17:39
Yes, it is yes.
John Twork 17:40
I wanted to touch on another thing that I read in a story that my colleague wrote about you. You also had some experience while you were in the military training colleagues, right? And that was sort of your first dipping your toe into the water of teaching. Can you talk about that experience a little bit too?
Brad Marcy 18:03
Yeah, you know, one way of thinking about the United States military is, it's, you know, the it's an all star team, right? And when we're not at war, you know, all we do is practice, practice, practice, practice, get ready for the being in the game and and that practice, that training, that constant training, MPs, are a little different because, you know, we're also the police on a military base. But my unit specifically was a Combat Support Unit, so we specialize more so on the combat side. So we didn't do Garrison, which is typical of a National Guard. We didn't do a lot of Garrison law enforcement stuff. We could, we trained for it, but we were more equipped and and set up for the field stuff. And so, you know, just train. And the way we do that is we rotate out and, you know, you become a subject matter expert on something. And you train your squad, train your company, train your your platoon, your company, your battalion, whatever. And I was always very shy and introverted, and, you know, didn't, didn't want to be on a stage or in front of people or anything. And I still don't, honestly, but when I'm teaching, it feels different. So, you know, I had a squad leader, Jerry Mays my you know, the best mentor. I had the military, amazing leader. And he he said, Hey, this is what we're going to do, and you're going to train, you're going to teach this, this class. I don't even know what it was. I think it might have been on, oh, well, I know I did a lot of civil disturbance training with him. So civil disturbances like riot control. And so he's like, you're going to teach this class on riot control and to the squad. Alright, you know, can? You can't say no, alright, I'll do it. And. And I did it. And I was like, that was actually kind of enjoyable. I liked that. And so then, you know, the the lesson went well, and they're like, Alright, give it to the platoon, and then the company. And before long, I was training entire battalions as a 19 year old kid. Maybe I was 20 by then, training battalions for the Illinois Army National Guard on on civil disturbance, and I loved it. It was so fun, you know, you get paid a little extra too, you know? And sure, as a young kid, you're like, Yeah, I can do that. So I think that that really is where I realized that I can do that job, and I developed a joy for that, but I hadn't really connected that to teaching in a high school setting or kids yet, but yeah, training, being an instructor trainer in the military was was a rewarding side, side gig, because it's part of the job, but part of the job. Yeah, yeah.
John Twork 20:58
And maybe planted the seeds that you didn't even know were going to grow into you becoming a teacher. Yeah. So, graduated from Illinois State. You taught for a year at Bloomington High School, and then got on at Leroy, and you've been there ever since, this is your 14th year. Is that right? Yes, yeah, wow. So why Leroy? How'd you end up there? And why have you stuck around? What's special about Leroy?
Brad Marcy 21:26
So much we love Leroy, small community. Remind me a lot of you know, when I went to high school in New Berlin, pretty much grew up in Springfield, but went to school in New Berlin, just go to the way to the school districts were drawn up. And you know why I got on there? You know, I got ripped from Wilmington High School. And, you know, get bummed out because I liked it there as well. It's good school. And for those who don't know, RIF is reduction in force. So, you know, they reduced the the size of the department. I would low man on the totem pole. I was gone. So, you know, I didn't really know where to go, what I wanted to do. So I went back to in the meantime, while looking for a job, like, I'm not just going to tread water, I went back to ISU and started my grad school while looking for, you know, full time teaching. And we while I was there, I did. I had a GA position at ISU, and that's I was applying around, and the job came up in Leroy, and I didn't know anything about Leroy at the time. In fact, it was just a town that when we're on the interstate. My wife is from Mohamet, so when we go visit her family, I would yell, Leroy Jenkins as we passed the sign. That was, that was all I knew about it. But, you know, applied there when that opening came up and, you know, got an interview. And from, from the jump the interview i i liked it just what they were having to say that they were 21st century learning school, not heavily test based, a lot of performative assessment. Show us what you know. And you know, obviously that's, that's my jam. That's what I do now. You know the and we you know, as time goes on the those aren't really the buzzwords anymore the 21st century learning school, but they still are. For me. It's still a cornerstone of my teaching philosophy, and I think ultimately they hired me because the principal at the time, Steve Rushky was a veteran, and you know, he knew that that being a vet, if I hire a vet, I know what I'm getting. I know the kind of kind of caliber I'm getting. And he, he went with me, and I'm grateful for it. And I it's funny in teaching and in every everything you know complaining is is a natural thing, right? Everyone's going to complain. At their job. Everyone's going to complain. In fact, there's a saying in the military, if Joe was complaining, Joe is okay. Joe being soldiers. So as a leader, as a leader of soldiers, if your soldiers are complaining, they're alright. So when they stop bringing you their complaints that you need to work, because they've stopped believing that you care, right? As a leader, that's how you reflect. So in education, you get teachers who complain about things in their workplace, and though you could tell the teachers who've never worked anywhere else. Because if you worked elsewhere, and then come to Leroy, you know that this is where the grass is greener, our district is where the grass is greener. You know, is it perfect? No, but yeah, it's funny listening to some of the gripes and some. It really, no, it's, it's better here than elsewhere. So, yeah, that's, that's why we've stayed here. And my wife, you know, she got on here, so she teaches here as well. Yeah, it's, it's a family thing. Now, our two girls go here, so, oh,
John Twork 25:17
that's, that's awesome. Leroy Panthers, correct? Heck, yeah, yeah,
Brad Marcy 25:23
they got a number one seed in the playoffs.
John Twork 25:25
Oh yeah, it's It is that time of year that's awesome. You're very candid about your experience as a high school student yourself and you struggled in school. How do you take your experience as a student and and help that shape you as a teacher.
Brad Marcy 25:45
Yeah, so a big part of I think my struggles as a student were, I've just recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I know that I've had it my whole life. And it was, you know, knowing what I know now as an educator, how to recognize the signs the kids who were struggling with those types of struggles, that was me through and through. But I went to a private school, and private schools at the time didn't have the same supports for students with those types of needs. My parents didn't know anything about it, and so it was just, you know, always just being lazy or, Oh, whatever. Well, really, I had executive processing challenge, you know, and I didn't, I didn't learn to self regulate till AIT, which is after basic training, you go to AIT, which is advanced individual training. That's where you learn your job. So for me, it was MP school, it was police academy. And so, you know, I'm sitting in a classroom setting, and we're learning about law, the UCMJ, uniform code of military justice. And you know, I'm I have to take notes. I realize I learned with a drill sergeant right here that, you know, I I have to take notes in order to focus. Now, if I write everything down, I'll remember like I never have to read it again. But I didn't learn those lessons in high school. I learned them so late in life, how to self regulate, how to overcome my challenges, how to you know if that meta cognitive, think about how you think, think about your challenges and and be proactive in overcoming those and so I think one of the things that I can do as a teacher is help recognize students who are having those same challenges and have that very frank conversation with them. Of you know, understand what you do well, but also understand what you don't do well and take measures to mitigate that, right preemptive, if you can, and just that frank conversation usually is productive. Now working closely with our we have a phenomenal special education department that is usually right on the wall. But at the same time, I'm big on helping yourself, right? And, you know, yes, they need support. Yes, remember those supports in but they're not always going to have us, you know? And I want them to know how to self regulate, how to self diagnose self, just be proactive about their own drawback. So, yeah, I think that that's helped as an educator. I hope, yeah, yeah,
John Twork 28:38
experiential learning is another big part of of you as a teacher. In fact, you created your own model, the SEAR model, situational, experiential, authentic and reflective. Can you talk about how immersive, especially you as a history teacher, how immersive history is so effective when you're teaching students about history.
Brad Marcy 29:02
Yeah. So one thing that you don't want to be as a teacher, and especially history teacher, because it's a stereotype with us, is, don't be the Just Push Play teacher, you know, oh, we're gonna watch a video. Oh, we're gonna watch a video. You know, you don't want to do that, but at the same time, it's a valuable tool for a very specific reason. Young people's brains are constantly changing, right? Their brains process the world differently than ours, and ours process the world differently than the generation before us, and so as time goes on, they're becoming more and more wired to respond to different type of stimulus, and they do not. Their brains are not responding to read this chapter like the generations that have come before them, and for right or wrong. You know if our if our goal is to get them to learn the content. It shouldn't matter how they learn it. It shouldn't matter that they learn it. And so how can we, how can we tap into the ways that their brains are wired different? Okay, well, yeah, you know some AV stuff, but more. So let's look at the science behind it. I use a lot of humor when I teach, and there's science behind, you know, the endorphins that we release when we're laughing and having a good time help with information retention more than you know, the fight or flight endorphins. And so now fight or flight endorphins do help with retention, but you have to re you have to, you have to trigger that right? And I don't want to have to trigger my kids to, you know, with that trauma, to make them remember something. But so, yeah, in the same in the same way, experiential learning works that way as well. And so I came up with the SEAR model, you know, because I kind of look at it like I want to sear that experience onto the brain, like I'm taking a brandy iron just right on their brain, just searing it in there. And to me that that very visual kind of, it's going to be there forever, right? So situational needs to be. I'm sorry my voice is struggling here. No problem. Situational it needs to be, you know, there needs to be parameters too, alright, so they can invest because when it's like, Alright, here's what's going on, guys, this is happening. This is happening, you know, this is going on. We have to factor all those things in. And this is, this is the the learning experience, or whatever. So that that gets buy in experiential, I think, is has to be an experience. Self explanatory, authentic. Kids can see through something that's fake, right? They they totally can see through it. And if it's hokey, if it's cheesy, you're going to lose them. So try and make it authentic. And if you can put real world ramifications to it even better. So, you know, the hanger dance, they were actually raising funds and money for veterans charity that they got to meet the veterans that it benefit. It's called who I don't know if you've heard of it, they they're around Bloomington, normal, okay, deer hunt for heroes. And they take wounded veterans and they take them out into into nature, and they take them on a hunt, or they take them fishing, things that these veterans love to do before and they thought they'd no longer be able to do because they've lost their legs or their arms or whatever they're going to provide all the assistive technology that is needed to show them you still can do these things. And so when, you know, I take my students to a bonfire where these veterans are all sitting around the fire, and they get to have a conversation with them, right? That's authentic. And they're like, we're helping these guys. And I warn my kids, I'll be like, hey, they're going to thank you. Be prepared. These, these veterans who have given literally parts of their body for our country, are going to turn around and look you in the eye and thank you for what you're doing. Just be ready. And when they do it, you know, kids are crying and and then I'll tell them, they'll also mess with you, because veterans have a really good sense of humor, you know, they'll detach their arm and shake arms, and they don't fall off the student. They'll just be like mortified, and they'll start laughing. It's great. So, yeah, that's the that's the authentic side. And then reflective they need to, you know, no lesson is complete without a student reflection where they they apply it. How can this apply to aspects of my life? Gotta have a little bit of introspection there. You know, how, how do I take this lesson, or these, this learned information, and move forward with it and use it. So yeah, I just kind of developed that as a guide for myself when I was doing my experience learning and projects based learning whatever. You know, it's a lot of terms that you can use, and it kind of turned into a thing. So, yeah,
John Twork 34:43
you mentioned the hanger dance. Another experiential learning opportunity that you've given your students is cleaning the headstones of military veterans through the good cemeterian project. Can you talk? Talk about that experience?
Brad Marcy 35:00
Yeah, no, I was just Doom scrolling one day on social media, and I came across a guy who, I think he's down in Florida, and he just does it on his own. And I was like, That is that is awesome that he's doing that. And I was like, I wonder how I can, I wonder how I can get my students into doing this, and so I took a walk through our our local cemetery, and the far back part now, there are a lot of veterans headstones that are old and in disrepair coming in Boston like it. It's very beautiful. There's actually a Revolutionary War soldier buried out the Leroy cemetery. And so, you know, I just started putting it together. Okay? So I have students go out there and adopt a veteran's headstone. How can I Okay, so that's, that's that aspect. How do I pull in the academics? Okay, so we have, every year I get a subscription for ancestry.com. For our district actually free. It's a free thing that ancestry does for schools. So they get ancestry, they get fold3, which is all the military records, and they get newspapers.com, which is tons of newspapers. So all you know, a free subscription for our district. So I say, okay, so they're going to use ancestry, Fold3 and newspapers to research the life and career of that veteran. And then we got to synthesize. So they then have to put together a biographical packet on that individual. And occasional. Let's incorporate the ancestry side. They have to find the closest living relative of that, that veteran, and we send them the packet. Oh, wow. So here is a really here, you know, I hope you don't mind. This is, you know, we have this veteran, your ancestor, buried in our cemetery, and we researched, and we thought you might be interested in the history behind this individual. And while we were at it, we took it, you know, we took a day and we cleaned up their headstone, because we want them to we want you to know that they are remembered and cherished in our community, because many of their ancestors are not, their descendants are not still living, they're living across the country, so, and that's, that's how it came together. And so the the cleaning of the headstones is, you know, that's kind of a culminating event, but there's a lot of academics that happened before we got there. And you know, by that point, the kids are, they're invested in this individual, they know their history, they know their story, and they, you know they do care. And so really, one of the so we have something, we call me the essential question, the essential question there for this assignment. One of them is about our historical memory. How do we memorialize our our warfare, and how do we remember our our war dead? And, you know, this was a delve into that, and to try, and, you know, drive that point home, but they also, in the process, they developed a lot of good historical inquiry skills using databases, archives, writing, you know, even professional communication as they reach out to these survivor, surviving family members. So there's so much there that is a traditional learning, quantifiable, ratable stuff that, but you you can make it authentic, and then again, that real world ramification of you're actually going to be contacting the living relative you want to do a good job by then so and Kids will maybe not care so much about an A or B, but when you put them in front of a veteran that they're helping, they're going to care. Or you put them, you know, to where they're communicating with the widow of a deceased veteran, they're going to care. And so I, I think that that has helped with buy in and engagement more so than grades. Kids are not motivated by grades, but they are going to be motivated by that human element, so they don't want to let people down.
John Twork 39:32
Do you have any particularly compelling stories from the Good Cemeterian good cemetery project that maybe you connected with, with someone who is really grateful, or there's an interesting story of a veteran that you discovered.
Brad Marcy 39:54
I know there were of the kids had a lot of fun making connections with. Between old names that are really well known around here, yeah, and the veterans who are buried out there. And so, you know, Buckles. Buckles is a big name in Leroy, there's a lot of Buckles still to this day, there's an area called Buckles grove. Our kids learned why Buckles Grove is called buckles Grove. And, yeah, and I know that there were some communications back and forth. I have to go back and pull those out, but people who are grateful, you know, there were some that were not. We couldn't find living, living relatives, so in that case, we just gave the biographical package to the library. So the kids work, it's forever in the library. But yeah, trying to another worse, I'm, I can't think of them off hand, other than, you know, the kids just kind of, when I think we all do it, when we start going down a rabbit hole, like, Oh, this is Buckles Grove. This is, you know, they just start making those connections. And also, this, this part is named after this person and this park, yeah. And also, another thing that they liked was, Why? asking because I pitched the question to them, but they then they take it and they run. Why was there a Revolutionary War soldier here in central Illinois? Yeah, you know, this was really frontier time at that, at that point and and so, you know, that whole founding of Leroy even started to creep in, you know? Oh, they were one of the first to come to Leroy. They interacted with the Kickapoo Native Americans. So, yeah, so those were some of the cooler success stories. Yeah, families would usually respond, oh, this is amazing. Thank you. We didn't know half of this, you know, but,
John Twork 41:56
yeah, what a rewarding project, Brad. Just one more question for you, and I'll let you go. You know, Veterans Day is approaching, and so I'm curious for you, personally, as a veteran, as a history teacher, what does Veterans Day mean to you, and is there anything that as a veteran and as a history teacher, you encourage the folks listening to this podcast to reflect upon on on Veterans Day?
Brad Marcy 42:28
one of the messages that I like to use with with young people is something that, you know, I try and live by, and I think that it's, it's fairly good advice is to earn it. And know when I I've spoken with Veterans Day, you know, to elementary kids, and you know when it means a lot to a veteran, when young men and women come up, shake our hands thank you for your service. That means a lot. But that's not why we did it. What means even more is when you don't know we're watching and we see you do the right thing. You know if, if I see a young man or young woman stop when everyone else walk past it, pick up garbage, take it over the garbage, better way, but that's why I did it right or I see a young man or woman, you know, walk a woman across the street, whatever it is, you know, hold the door, whatever, do the right thing. That is That means so much more than anything else, because you want to know that the future generations that that whatever sacrifices for that, that's why you did it, that's that's worthwhile, that future generation is alright. I'm doing the right thing. And I think, you know, you know, I love Veterans Day. It's very nice, but it's, you know, every day of the year, we can show our appreciation, and it doesn't have to be a big thing, just be a good American and be a good member of your community. Aside from that, also, I do really harp on the mental health awareness. We have to destigmatize mental health. You heard me. I'll talk about it. I don't shy away from it. Because shying away from it for years is what got us in this position where my brothers and sisters are so afraid to say anything that they're taking their own lives, you know, in quiet places of their own suffering because they couldn't talk to anyone. And so the the 21, 22 a day, that are taking their own lives, we need to still talk about that. We need to we. To You know, recognize that there's a lasting effect of war, healthcare as well. I'm still fighting cancer from the burn pits, right from Iraq. There's a lot of us who are and you know, if we're going to we got to take care of our vets, right? We got to make that commitment. And I know that's self serving me being a veteran, but you know, I'm looking at my dad's generation that now is, you know, elderly and needing, needing some care. So, yeah, that's my message that I typically give when it gives the opportunity.
John Twork 45:47
Brad, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for your service to our country and for everything you're doing for those students in Leroy, they're lucky to have you.
Brad Marcy 45:57
Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'm lucky to have them.
John Twork 46:00
Thanks so much.
That was Brad Marcy, an Illinois State University alum and veteran and the 2024 College of Education Teacher of the Year. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in next time to Redbird Buzz for more stories from beyond the quad.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai