Profile: Retired C.R. Kennedy journalism teacher coaches other teachers

Gary Lindsay, 66, hasn't let retirement slow him down.

The former Kennedy High School journalism teacher earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Journalism Education Association in November, in part recognizing his ongoing impact in classrooms across the state since his 2011 retirement.

Lindsay, a Cedar Rapids resident, started teaching at Kennedy in 1971 and stayed for 40 years. He taught teaching English for the first 15 years and journalism for 25.

'It's really been great working with student journalists,' he said. 'They're bright. They like to put their learning into action ... I love teaching writing that has a real world purpose.'

Since retiring he's been continuing to reach student journalists by mentoring their teachers. He has worked with new journalism teachers around the state, helping 15 teachers find their way in a challenging field with a high level of attrition.

The Journalism Education Association mentorship program started in 2007, in part to address the turnover rate. Mentors are experienced teachers, usually retired, paired with new journalism teachers and advisers to offer advice and curriculum resources.

Lindsay was on the assocation's board and was the north-central regional director when the mentorship program began.

'The retention rate for new journalism teachers is abysmally poor,' Lindsay said. 'It's very demanding. The technology is always changing, and there's an entirely different dynamic.'

Journalism teachers are often tapped from other departments, as he was from English, he said, so they may be learning the craft even as they teach skills from reporting and editing to photography, layout and student press law. Often there aren't other journalism teachers at the same school to turn to for advice.

That's where mentors like Lindsay come in. He was one of about 38 active mentors across the country in 2015. The journalism teachers he has worked with teach in towns from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines and in between.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy language arts teacher Steve Tolly is one of Lindsay's current mentees. A language arts teacher, Tolly in August started advising the students who put together the yearbook.

Lindsay helped him navigate everything from the business side of printing a yearbook to figuring out the photo editing software. He also came in and talked with the students about journalism ethics.

'He's helped me understand the ins and outs of journalism. Gary's years of experience have made it much quicker to start,' Tolly said. 'I'm not sure what I'd doing without Gary's mentorship. I'd be lost.'

In addition to mentoring teacher, Lindsay is putting his communications skills to work as an active member of the Harmony Hawks Barbershop Chorus and the Iowa Lions Club Eye Bank. He has been show chairman for the Harmony Hawks for the last few years and is marketing vice president. He will be taking over as marketing president for the choir, which performs for groups and events around the community. He also helped the eye bank start a Facebook page to promote its efforts.

'I thought, when I retire, I'd be trout fishing whenever I want and do this and that,' he said. 'But there are all kinds of great causes to be involved with. The life I have now is wonderful. I'm not thinking about slowing down.'