Former Moorpark High Teacher to be Inducted into Educators' Hall of Fame

Tomorrow will be a special day for former teacher Larry Jones.

Jones, who is best known for coaching the school's academic decathlon team to four national championships before his retirement, will be inducted into the Ventura County Educators' Hall of Fame this Saturday at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Ventura.

This is the fourth year the Educators' Hall of Fame will induct members. To be eligible for acceptance into the elite circle, a person must be retired and must have taught in Ventura County for at least 10 years.

Jones’ storied teaching career spans more than 40 years, including 23 years teaching history at .

He credits his parents for teaching him the value of education. “My mom and dad were both immigrants from England,” he said. “They really valued education.”

However, it was his 4^th grade elementary teacher who inspired Jones to teach. After opening him up as a young boy to the study of Albert Schweitzer and other historical figures, he decided that he would carry on her legacy.

“I had great teachers who exposed me to the outside world and I wanted to do the same things for others,” said Jones.

Initially, Jones wanted to be a journalist. He dreamed about a career divided between teaching journalism and coaching baseball. He even fantasized about taking a small town team to a state championship.

Instead, he ended up teaching history and coaching an academic decathlon team to several national championships.

Jones’ professional colleagues and students are not shy about acknowledging his teaching talent. His former principal at , Anne Merriman, described what she observed in his classrooms.

“Larry would push, cajole, humor, demand and inspire students daily to think critically about issues that affect the world they live in," she said. "He taught world history to 10th grade students and would continually require each of his students to go above and beyond just learning the facts. He was passionate about preparing them to face an ever-changing world.”

Jonah Buck, a former high school student and decathlon team member credits Jones with inspiring him to further his academic studies. Buck will graduate this year with academic honors from the University of Oregon and is preparing for a law career.

“Mr. Jones prepared me for college more than any other teacher," said Buck. "The writing techniques, study methods and basic historical literacy he inculcated in his students provided me with the tools I needed to thrive in a university environment.

I chose to become a history major largely because of the influence of Mr. Jones, and I credit him for that fact that I'll be graduating magna cum laude later this month."

Moorpark Unified School District superintendent Teresa Williams believes that Jones’ gift was recognizing and developing student talent.

“He was a master at recognizing, highlighting and promoting the accomplishments of many amazing young people,” said Williams.

Will Buck, Jonah’s father, credited Jones’ effectiveness to his ability to provide personal attention to each of his students.

“He took so many young lives and made them better because he shared that they were unique and valuable and that they should expect great things of themselves,” he explained.

For Jones, what he’s most proud of is helping students unearth what he considered their undiscovered talents.

“The highlights of my career really include many individual students that I’ve worked with,” he said, “particularly the potential dropouts that decided to stay with it and are now getting their Ph.D.'s or are teaching in classrooms themselves.”

Jones’ yen for history is closely connected to his passion to turn students into critical thinkers and good citizens.

“I was teaching so that kids could understand, when they were jurors, to read critically and make up their own minds,” he said. “You can’t know who you are if you don’t know where you came from.”

He believes that good teachers can have a major impact on students’ lives and that it’s important for teachers to risk caring about them as individuals.

“Good teachers make personal connections to kids to let them know that somebody cares,” he said. “That’s more important than learning quadratic equations or parts of speech. It’s letting kids know that they have someone in their corner and offering them a sense of direction.”

He thinks his induction into the hall of fame is more about the overall contribution of the teaching community rather than his own individual achievement.

“My going into the hall of fame also recognizes other teachers and parents contributions and is symbolic of what students got from kindergarten all the way up through high school," said Jones. “It’s a cumulative effect. I was just fortunate enough to be the face at the end of the road.”