After 22 years...

of teaching, my dad retired!!!

{Mr. Perkins}

In late August 1988, my dad began his teaching career at Bear River Middle School. Just days before he started his new job, our family moved to Tremonton, Utah. My dad is a retired Army Major, and we moved around a lot in my youth. I was born on the Ft. Bragg army base in North Carolina when he was still active in the army. He retired from the army in 1985. He attended universities in Utah, North Carolina and Washington and he earned three bachelors degrees and a masters degree, and he also has several endorsements on his teaching certificate. After we moved to Tremonton, my family never moved again. His entire teaching career was at Bear River Middle School. I think that is very commendable, and I'm very proud of him for that.

My dad taught 8th and 9th grade students. Initially, the middle school was for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and he taught 8th grade history and civics. After many years, an intermediate school was built, and the middle school was then used for just 8th and 9th graders. He's taught geography, social studies, history, english, civics, and speech/debate. Most of those 22 years were in a classroom at the end of the old 8th grade hall, but some of that time was spent in a portable classroom set up in the parking lot. Every day, he drove the short distance to school, and parked his truck in the same spot to begin his school day. On the last day of school this year, 3 of my sons and I visited him in his classroom. We took him 22 balloons (representing the 22 years) and a poster commemorating the celebratory occasion!
I think all of us children had our dad for a teacher. I remember being in his 8th grade history class. I loved listening to him as he told amazing and awesome war stories from serving in Vietnam. He had a knack for pulling us in as students and captivating us with his experiences--he's an incredible story teller! I remember him having extra-credit questions about Seinfeld episodes--which began my love for that show! I remember participating in Mock Trial competition with him as the visor, and being a witness and acting as a "prostitute" and my dad was so proud of me!

Over the years, his teaching style evolved and he became very popular and very famous for his gummy bear contests, "Village Idiot" challenges, and nicknames he gave students. He has an incredible memory, and remembers a lot of his students as well as nicknames he's had for them. If I go anywhere with my dad while visiting Tremonton, sure enough one of his students will spot him and approach him and talk to him! And of course, my dad will know who they are, who their siblings are, and any nicknames he's had for any member of their family! He was an excellent teacher, and made learning exciting and fun! He teaches without prejudice towards his students, and has a way of working with kids from all walks of life. Junior high years are difficult ones to live through, and hard to deal with as a parent or a teacher, but my dad mastered the job of teaching that age group! And he did so with much admiration from so many others! He was quite remarkable at his job!

When we visited him on the last day of school, the day was spent mostly signing yearbooks, but it was quite obvious how popular he still is among the students today.

His classroom has a whiteboard on one wall. As students arrived each hour, they wrote messages with dry-erase markers to him on the board. My boys took the opportunity to draw pictures for grandpa there as well. At the end of the day, the board was filled to the max with notes from so many who call him their favorite teacher!

I am just one of thousands of students over his 22 years of teaching that remembers what a terrific teacher he has been! I'm grateful for his example and for his ability to teach students and truly "lift them higher"...

Here's some of the memories that some of his past students remember about his class and having him for a teacher:

"I remember his awesome stories about drinking the blood of rabbits. He was a great teacher. So clear and entertaining." --Eve Speer

"He was one of my favorite teachers! His stories were so funny that I literally laughed until I cried sometimes. He really knew how to engage his students and was a great teacher because of it." --Angela Corbett

"Mr. Perkins is the best! So were all of his stories and gummy bears! One of the coolest teachers that there is!" --Bobi Webb

"As a history teacher, your dad really had a way with telling stories. I remember being fascinated more by the stories of his life than by the history in the book. When he told me to read something I always believed it would be interesting because he was interesting. War stories, childhood stories, dangerous, funny…you name it, he told it. Then there was the time he fell off the school during a rappelling demonstration and barely stopped himself in time. To a 13/14 year old kid, he was both intimidating and fascinating—mostly fascinating. Your dad was a great teacher. He was one of my dad's favorite neighbors in that old hall." --Joel Winkler

"I remember 'children of the corn' or the 'how I shot Bambi' story." --Jessica Lewis

"I always enjoyed his unlimited supply of stories. But I have to say I loved the Homecoming video! Well, I guess that wasn't really class related...however, what an honor it was to act with Mr. Perkins in a full feature film!" --Ben Jensen

"Your dad was one of my favorite teachers in middle school. He always had awesome stories to tell. I hope he really enjoys his retirement, he deserves it." --Paige Wise

"I love all of his fun stories!" --Meisha Rudd

"So many of my children had your father, they all loved the gummy bear catching--he would throw it right into their mouths. They all really enjoyed his stories about Vietnam. We are really going to miss him, my youngest son is going to miss out. Tell him thanks for putting up with my children." --Connie Evans

"His stories were awesome!! He was just a awesome teacher pretty much!!" --Mindy Hales

"His war stories [are my favorite memory]. Also, my son went to merit badge clinic with him and thought your dad was awesome!!" --Angie Garrett

"I loved his crazy stories he'd tell!" --Kasie Ripplinger

"He was always one of my favorite teachers. I loved hearing his stories. Congrats to Mr. Perkins on his many years of success and inspiration to the thousands of students he taught through his years." --Holly Copeland

"Loved the war stories and playing mock trials!" --Russell Thornley

"He was able to make class fun. I still remember him setting up a trial using everyone in class. I think that was one of my first realizations of how the judicial system worked." --Natalie Jex

"I remember the mock trial the most. That was a fun and interesting way to learn the system. I was cast as the criminal though...LOL" --Misty Archibald

"It was fun to see a different side of dad, and hearing all his war stories. He gave me a few negative points because I would laugh at Meggan and Tauni Johnson. I was also mortified the day he brought the video of me singing in a choir concert and I was nervous so my one foot I kept moving. But he was a lot of fun and I enjoyed doing the projects! I also loved Mock Trials with dad! So much fun!" --Tawna Perkins

"He always made it easy to understand the topic we were talking about. He made us laugh and the gummy bears were my favorite part. :)" --Jorilynn Wardle

"When I went to college, I met this guy that I kinda liked. One night we were just walking around and talking about school and old teachers we loved. I told him about how awesome Mr. Perkins was. I even told the story about "Shooting the damn Yankee in de ass.” He thought it was so funny, he asked me on a date. Thank you Mr. Perkins for sharing your stories! Oh, and Mr. Perkins encouraged me to aspire to Village Idiot!" --Becka Schultz

"i loved how one time (and i still remember it all the way back from freaking 8th grade) when he was lecturing the class and I started playing with my pencil and was bored and I pretended it was an airplane and it was crashing and falling apart and I looked up and he stopped talking and just stared at me thinking 'what the heck?'. Haha then he took this little hot wheels car he had on his bookshelf and told me to go into the hall and play with the car until I wasn’t bored anymore haha so I went and played with a hot wheels until class was over. your dad is without a doubt, hands-down, my favorite teacher I have ever had. He always made everyone feel so involved and kept us smiling. God bless him he is a great guy." --Kayden Hurlbert

"my favorite thing was when he made us do push ups for being bad or being talkative! also the gummy bear challenge was DA BOMB!!!" --Michael Davis

"My favorite memory of your dad is when he'd lecture, he'd always flip his pen or pencil in between his fingers back and forth, back and forth. I seriously would just stare at his hands doing that! He was a great teacher though... one of my all-time favorites!" --Heather Nelson

"I'll never forget when he taught us about forming an opinion. He asked us if we were for or against euthanasia, and when one student said that they thought it was pretty good if the person was in extreme pain, your dad looked at all of us and told a story from his military days when there was a buddy bleeding and in agony and said …would you be willing to pull the trigger?" --Melissa Taylor

"He taught our class what "phago snatching" is. :) (Now that I teach middle school myself, I've had to educate a few kids on the dangers of phago snatching in public.)" --Eric Bingham

"I really enjoyed having him as a teacher! He seemed all tough on the outside, but really took time to care and be sincere when needed. I remember having a really tough day about something, and he said something really nice and really made me be able to shake it off. I also always thought he would have made an excellent spy or federal agent. Thanks for making a difference!!" --Stacy Firth

"[My favorite memory was] memorizing the counties with the little puzzles!!!" --Kellee Hunsaker

"I LOVED that we had 'projects' not homework. Every so often, when I look through my closet, I think of the assignment where we found the countries that our clothes were made in. And the ONLY time I've ever used a compass was in his class-I had fun getting lost in the snow out on the soccer field. Dad's class was a lot of fun. He always had a story, or a good joke to tell or teasing someone. Mr. Perkins was one of my favorite teachers of all time!" --Tabitha Perkins

"I loved that he gave us all the assignments right up front so as soon as we finished all of them we had the rest of the trimester to play. There was a group of us that had most of our stuff done by mid-terms and we got to play Phase 10 for the entire second half of class. My other memory of him was that he refused to call me by my first name because he had my 2 older sisters as well. So we were all deemed 'Profaizer'." --Kim Profaizer

"I loved your dad!!! haha he called me 'avatar'! i don't even remember why. and the gummy bears...jumping in the snow face first...wow i loved your dad!" --Miranda Paulsen

"my favorite was constantly being called a 'YAY-HOO' and putting up a bunch of pictures all over his classroom :)" --Sara Kerby

"when I was in his class he always called me 'Quadoopa'... he always made fun of my ballet terms and I would always make fun of him when he attempted to lift his leg onto the table and touch his toes... :) silly old man." --Kaitlyn Lee

"I loved how he said his favorite college football team was whoever beat BYU, so me and Stockton wore our BYU ties every time our football team had a home game." --Jeremy Woodall

"I remember when he would call home just to have your little sister, Katrina, sing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from the movie Evita. He was so proud! Can't forget him singing Pink Floyd, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire” and of course, gummy bears & him throwing them in our mouths. I loved his class!!!" --Jayme Richards

"the gummy bear toss is what i remember. he taught us how to play chess. he also brought your little sister Katrina in class sometimes." --Julynn Johnson

"fave memory...Well it would have to be singing to his class over the phone as a kindergartner, and visiting him when he did parent teacher conference. He was always so busy talking to kids, I thought he was the most popular person there." --Trina Perkins

"I have memories as a student and later in church callings. I also did a story about him for The Leader in which we ran a photo of him in Vietnam. He was one tough-looking hombre." --Trent Toone

"I had him for English and he hated the words 'like' and 'so' and he didn't want us to use -ly words. I remember that most." --Mckell Zundel

"There's not one story that i don't love that your dad told. I remember when I was his T.A and he would give me a handful of gummy bears and say "if that kid starts to be loud or anything hit him with a gummy bear"! hahaha If I didnt, he got mad at me! haha He is a good guy!" --Jardee Demar

"Oh man, I hope someone carries on that gummy bear tradition! He was such a fun teacher!" --Jaci Hunsaker

"I'm not sure if this carried on, but with us he would combine the Gummy Bear toss with a "Seinfeld Quiz." That's what got me hooked on that show. :) Congrats to him!" --Ladd Udy

"Seinfeld quizzes for disgustingly named gummy bears, which we had to try catching in our mouth! What a great guy! Congrats Mr. Perkins on your retirement. Sincerely, 'DIMPLES'" --Kelli Wood

"MMMmmmm. Phlem Bears!" --Tanis Marble

"LOVE the 'urine filled' gummy bears!" --Derek Anderson

"hahaha "nincompoops" and he always hit my head when he threw gummy bears. and i love his crazy stories!" --Cassie Sweet

"I loved his gummy bears :) Me n kylie were his little trouble-makers and he'd always sneak me gummy bears! I miss that little man so bad! I was sooooo lucky that I gotta be in his class :) He's totally the best! You're lucky to have such an awesome dad!" --Rylee Seager

"The gummy bear contests, ha. He was my favorite teacher ever! I was 'brows little sister' :)" --Brooke Oyler

"In geography, he would give me gummy bears for reciting the articles of faith. I guess that's how it goes when he was your primary teacher too! I love him!" --Emilie Larsen

"The gummy bear toss was great. We even ventured out to use hot tamales once ;)" --Afton Barksdale

"Ben Stealer and my gummy bears! hahaha awesome" --Mary Jensen

"Gummy bear empress! Tell your dad hi and congrats." --Shalee Thompson

"I made it to like Gummy Bear Empress and had like 17 in a row! It was a record for a while... then someone beat me! I loved his class. Send him my best!" --Ryan Huber

"I actually saw your dad in line at home depot on the morning after thanksgiving and he told me that Brandon Ayotte is the King of the gummy bear game. and still is. But don't get me wrong, I was pretty good too." --Lance Braegger

"High-five him and give him a gummy bear from me" --Shawn Perry

"Congratulations to Mr. Perkins! I'm sure he will be very missed at the school but I'm happy for him. He was one of my favorite teachers." --Kristin Hirschi

"He was amazing...I loved your dad!!!" --Tawny Jamieson

"He was such a great teacher. Tell him congratulations and thanks from me." --Amy Pierce

"I think we all had him for a teacher, good for him! 22 years is a long time." --Darcie Holmgren

"Loved your dad. It takes a lot to be a great teacher, and he had what it took, for sure. Hope he enjoys retirement!" --Charlotte Manning