Teaching may be a second career for Chauncey Veatch, but as far as this outstanding teacher from the Coachella Valley is concerned, it's the only career.
"I knew the second day I was in the classroom that this was for me," says the retired Army colonel who was recently honored as one of five California Teachers of the Year - and is also one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year that will be announced in March.
California's Teachers of the Year (from left) are Carol Brouhle, Marvin N. Inmon, Mary Eileen Geer, Chauncey Veatch and Janet Gower.
Although award-winners often use their honor as a "bully pulpit" to advance the teaching profession, Veatch is torn about outside speaking engagements since it takes precious time away from Coachella Valley High School, where he teaches American and world history, economics, American government and career preparation to students who are mostly Spanish-speakers from migrant families.
"Being named a Teacher of the Year is a great honor, but, truly, I get my reward every day when I walk into my classroom," says Veatch, a member of the Coachella Valley Teachers Association.
Nevertheless, Veatch already has accepted engagements before the State PTA and Migrant Parent Conference.
It's in his classroom where Veatch gets the satisfaction of meeting with a student who has completed an essay in English for the first time, or one who has become the first in his family to graduate from high school. In fact, Veatch's students have won acclaim in many areas, from winning district spelling bees and math and science competitions, to becoming runner-ups in the state's History Day. Twelve of his students participated in engineering and Latin American Studies classes at the Naval Postgraduate School. Another eight students took classes in Arabic, Korean, French and Russian at the Defense Language Institute. Veatch's Friday Night Live Chapter won the Riverside County Award for Community Outreach. His Cadet Corps has participated in the Rose Bowl Parade.
When asked what makes an outstanding teacher, Veatch answers in a split second. "It's measured in the achievement of your students. These are students who are from migrant families. Some don't even get here until November. But look at their achievements."
As an example, he cites one of his students, a native Spanish-speaker from Mexico, who recently had to choose among scholarship offers from Stanford, UCLA and UC Berkeley.
"When a student, born in Mexico, has the chance to choose from three of our greatest universities, that's an achievement. When a student tells me he has written his first essay in English, that's an achievement. It isn't just what students score on a test, but what they have accomplished in the class," he says.
Before joining the high school three years ago, Veatch taught eighth grade in the Coachella Valley Unified School District for four years.
In addition to his current high school teaching load, Veatch also teaches English as a Second Language and citizenship in the adult school, where he is able to work with the parents of many of his students.
Veatch infuses his academic classes with community service as well. Weekends may find him engaged with students in a variety of service projects from health screenings to marching in parades to handling the parking at community events.
"I think it helps America when we can develop habits of community service," Veatch says. "These students come to us as great people, and we work to make them even greater by developing these habits."
Veatch is no stranger to service himself. After earning his bachelor's degree at the University of the Pacific and his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame, he attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth. He also attended the Octavio Paz Center for Latin American Studies in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Following the Gulf War, he entered the Defense Language Institute in Monterey to learn Spanish. In the jungles of Panama, he led a task force that built schools, repaired bridges, constructed med- ical clinics, paved roads and provided basic medical care. It was during that time he decided he wanted to teach and to work with the Hispanic population.
Upon retiring from the Army in 1995, he inquired about substitute teaching in the Coachella Valley Unified School District. He was urged to consider teaching full time and was hired under an emergency credential. Along the way to earning his full credential, he taught social sciences, language arts, science and math. His background in the military and his fluency in Spanish have helped Veatch in his teaching career. Speaking Spanish, he says, shows respect for his students and their parents, and allows him to increase communication with parents.
While his varied background helped prepare him for a career in teaching, Veatch observes, "any life experience is helpful, but teaching really is a calling. There really is no activity in a democracy that is more important than the education of our children."
At the same time, he notes, "The key component in any classroom is the teacher. We have to make sure that our teachers have every opportunity to be proficient in their job. They must have the training, the technical assistance and the support to do the best job they can."
Dale Martin
