Weimer to retire after three decades in the Mahomet-Seymour School district

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of articles focusing on teachers and administrators who will retire from the M-S school district at the end of the school year.

It was the summer of 1985.

John Weimer was ready to move on to the rest of his life.

He had successfully completed his student-teaching stint at Mount Vernon.

He had his diploma from Eastern Illinois University.

He even had experience helping the baseball coach for one spring at Rend Lake College.

His resume was in the hands of numerous school administrators throughout the state.

All the 23-year-old needed was a job.

Weimer heard back from several schools.

One was looking for a soccer coach to fill the teaching opening they had.

Other schools had assorted needs.

As the months progressed, Weimer was living with his parents in Benton.

“It was a tough market for first-year people,” Weimer recalled. “People were getting back to me saying, ‘Thank you, but we’re looking for a coach.’

“It was getting pretty frustrating. No one was giving me a chance.”

The principal at Mahomet-Seymour High School, John Wilkinson, summoned Weimer for an interview.

Wilkinson took note of where Weimer was living.

“He grew up in West Frankfort,” Weimer said. “That’s the next town down from Benton.”

The former southern Illinois resident interviewed the current southern Illinois resident.

A job offer was made before Weimer left the building.

“They had a study hall/supervisor position open,” Weimer said.

He didn’t accept it on the spot.

“I had one more interview (scheduled),” Weimer said.

The bigger issue is that the position didn’t involve teaching. It wasn’t on the salary schedule.

Weimer would be paid hourly.

“Five dollars an hour,” Weimer said.

***

The 1985-86 school year started with Weimer in place as the study hall monitor at Mahomet-Seymour High School.

He was able to supplement his salaried position.

“He (Wilkinson) asked what I was willing to coach,” Weimer said.

He limited himself to one sport per season. The M-S district had a new three-sport coach.

Weimer was the head coach for the junior high football (intramural) program, the seventh-grade boys’ basketball coach and an assistant at the high school for coach Jim Risley’s girls’ track and field program.

The M-S newcomer made a favorable impression with veteran M-S high school football coach Frank Dutton.

“I remember meeting with Frank and he asked me what I was going to do (football-wise) at the junior high,” Weimer said. “I said, ‘You tell me.’

“He said, ‘You’re hired.’ “

Weimer ran the same system that was in place at the high school. “Just scaled down,” he said.

Dutton liked the idea that the first-year coach wasn’t coming in with his own agenda and a plan he was insistent on implementing.

Weimer spent 27 years with football, devoting a part of his stint to the high school program.

“I was behind-the-scenes,” Weimer said. “(On Game Night), I would be on the road scouting the next high school opponent.”

He didn’t mind focusing on the junior high  program until it was disbanded.

“I liked getting the younger kids started and learning the fundamentals,” Weimer said.

***

Weimer wasn’t raised in a family of educators. His father worked for Central Illinois Power Company and the family lived in Beardstown until Weimer was in college.

“In high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Weimer said.

He enrolled at Monmouth College and played both football and baseball as a freshman.

He wasn’t enamored with the school and transferred to Rend Lake as a sophomore. He joined the baseball team, but still didn’t have a firm career objective.

“At a young age, I was pretty much sports-minded, but I knew I wasn’t going on (as an athlete),” Weimer said.

After transferring to EIU as a junior, he found his calling.

“I had a great professor in P.E. (Dr. Wayne Arnold),” Weimer said. “He was such a personable guy.

“He was always positive and upbeat and inspiring. He said, ‘You’d be great working with kids. You’d be good in this (teaching) role.’

“That’s when I knew where my direction was. I wanted to be like him. From then on, that’s what I decided to do.”

***

Even with the difficulty of finding his first job, Weimer didn’t arrive at M-S with the idea of it being a career destination.

It just happened.

“The kids we have here are awesome,” he said. “They are the reason I’ve  been here 34 years. I never thought about moving on.

“You don’t do something this long if you don’t like what you’re doing. This is a wonderful community. That’s why we’re staying. We love it here.”

It helped that his job description changed quickly.

“At the end of the third quarter (of his first year), I was called out of study hall and handed a grade book,” Weimer said.

He was taking over a physical education position at the high school.

For the remainder of the school year, he worked as a full-time sub.

In 1986-87, Weimer was a full-time faculty member, still teaching at the high school.

A year later, he was reassigned to the junior high in what was a common-sense move.

Junior high P.E. teacher Randy Sallade was hired as the high school boys’ basketball head coach.

Weimer was coaching the seventh-grade boys’ basketball team.

“They (administrators) wanted us to switch (so they would be in the buildings where they were coaching),” Weimer said. “I didn’t care. I just wanted a job.”

An illustration of the quality of kids at M-S occurred during the early years of Keith Oates’ tenure, which started in 2006 as superintendent.

In addition to his P.E. classes, Weimer was teaching health. He was walking from the gym to his classroom one day and came across Oates in the hallway.

As the bell rang, he invited the superintendent to stop by his class.

“The kids were sitting there quietly,” Weimer said. “He (Oates) said, ‘That’s unusual’ and I said, ‘No, Mr. Oates. That’s the way our kids are.’

“And that happened numerous times.”

***

Weimer was a three-sport coach for eight years. He worked with junior high basketball for eight years and guided the 1987-88 team to the state tournament.

He also spent four years on Risley’s girls’ track and field staff, including the year the high school Bulldogs placed third at state (1987).

In 1989-90, he switched his spring allegiance to baseball, assisting high school head coach Mike Scholz for three years and following it up with eight years as the head coach.

Weimer’s final year as the baseball head coach resulted in a surprise state tournament appearance.

His 1999-2000 team was the sixth seed for the regional tournament.

“They were overachievers who got on a run when they needed to,” Weimer said of a team that ended with a 19-10-1 season record.

Three of the postseason wins were by one-run margins.

M-S dropped a state quarterfinal decision to eventual state runner-up Joliet Catholic.

Weimer exited baseball coaching after that season to follow his softball-playing daughter.

A decade ago, he was convinced to return to the dugout.

One of his former players, Nic DiFilippo, returned to his alma mater as the baseball head coach and recruited Weimer as an assistant.

“It’s pretty humbling to have a former player ask you to come back and be their assistant,” Weimer said.

This spring will mark Weimer’s 21st — and final — spring helping with baseball during his two combined stints. He works with the M-S infielders.

***

In his three-decade-plus tenure in the district, Weimer has witnessed numerous changes.

The most dramatic change, he said, took place as he transitioned from teaching at the high school to the junior high.

“The energy (among students) down here is unbelievable,” Weimer said.

The other most noticeable difference, he added, is the kids.

“There’s a lot more of them,” Weimer said.

Besides the numbers, there’s another trend he has noticed.

“They’re more needy,” Weimer said. “A lot demand more attention be given to them.”

This year, there are about 760 students total for the junior high’s three grade levels.

Most of the co-ed P.E. sections have at least 30 students.

For a number of years, twice-a-week fitness programs have been incorporated into the junior high P.E. programs.

The Wednesday-Friday workouts focus on cardiovascular activities as well as agility and stretching.

It’s not always popular.

“I’ve heard the complaints,” said Weimer, who has an answer for those individuals.

“I tell them when I got to FitTek, I’ll see you working out and paying for it and you got it free in junior high,” Weimer said. “It has happened.”

Another issue, he said, is one that is becoming more prevalent in society.

“It’s the listening skills of the students,” Weimer said. “We have to give instructions a couple different times.

“Kids text. They don’t talk to one another.”

***

Weimer is not exactly sure how he will spend his retirement years.

“I haven’t seen my wife’s to-do list,” he joked.

He is certain what he won’t be doing.

There will be no subbing or coaching in his future.

“I’m walking away from teaching because it’s time,” Weimer said. “I’m done. I’ll start a new chapter in my life.

“In this business, my day starts at 8:20 with a bell. When I retire, an 8:20 bell won’t start my day.

“I’ll do something else somewhere else. I won’t rush into anything.”

He won’t be a stranger when athletic events are scheduled.

“I’ll come back for sporting events,” Weimer said.

While he prepares for the next phase of his life without any regrets, Weimer added: “I’ll miss the camarderie with the kids, my colleagues and the staff in general.

“It has been a great journey. I’ve enjoyed every minute.”

Weimer’s retirement means there will be a new No. 1 next year.

He is currently the longest-tenured teacher in the M-S district.