An Affirmation of Faith
William S. Parquette, Former Faculty 1952–1980
The entire school community paid tribute to Chairman of the English department and beloved coach, Bill “P.Q.” Parquette, who, after 27 years on the Hilltop, announced his retirement. Mr. Parquette responded to this outpouring of affection by delivering the following remarks about the teaching profession at his farewell banquet the following year.
A banker friend said to me once, “Banking would be a great life if it weren’t for all that money.” “What’s wrong with money?” I asked in a state of shock. “Nothing. But none of it’s mine. I simply move it around for others.” I suppose every teacher has expressed a similar thought in a more jocular vein. I’ve said it; and I’ve heard it: “Teaching would be a great life if it weren’t for the students.”
It comes to you in the evening after a day of classes, two hours with an activity, then sports, then formal dinner, and you are settling down to a bundle of themes or geometry proofs, and about quarter to eleven, there is a knock on the door. “Can I talk to you?” It’s no matter he should have said “may.” There is an urgency in the voice that suspends such niceties.
No matter the work, the lesson not prepared, you listen; for unlike the banker, whose work is with the money of others, you have made an investment in young people. You do not manage money; you manage the growth of these youngsters, sentient human beings, sitting before you in classrooms with the kind of faith that is both terrifying and humbling. That knock on the door is an affirmation of that faith.
