The "Sir Speedy of MTHS" Story

It was an ordinary day. I had just finished working with Harry G. on the small AB Dick press at MTHS. I had used it during the week and was having trouble keeping the job I was printing from picking up excessive ink on the left side of the paper. Took forever to run the 10,000flyers I needed for the job I was doing. I called Harry and he stopped to do the adjustments and check to see if I needed any new parts to the press which is about 35 years old. Harry works for the company that the school bought the press from years ago. We got talking and he asked me how long I had been doing the printing for MT. After some figuring on my part, I told him I had been doing the in-house printing for the school district since 1968. Wow, that makes 42 years that I have been cranking up the presses for hall passes, stationery, envelopes, school calendars, bell schedules, and anything small that the press can handle. I also have been doing the football programs and baseball yearbook on the larger press we have in the print shop in room 168. When I taught at the school it was room 308, but with renovations a few years ago, they renumbered the rooms. Why, I don't know. Just to confuse me, I think. Never quite sure why it was room 308, since it was on the first floor. Years ago when Mr. Hower was principal and I was in my early years of teaching in room 308, I had about a dozen keys which I needed in order to get into the school, the closets, laundry room (did the athletic washing), Yearbook room, shops and different classrooms. Couldn't keep them straight so one weekend I came to the school and painted the small insets on all the doors with a different color that matched the plastic colored ID shield that I had put on each key. Made it so much easier for me. Didn't take long for Mr. Hower to figure out who did it and I had to go around and clean off all the paint. Funny, I still do printing for Mr. Hower who is no longer the principal, but still the district chairman for the PIAA (PA sports organization). Then I told Harry that if I counted all the time I had spent in the school district, including the years as a student, it would be an astounding 54 years. I'm still going strong and maybe when I reach the 60 year mark, the district will honor me with a plaque over room 168/308 declaring it the Woods Printing Services. That by the way is the name of the company I formed after I retired. When I retired from teaching in 1999, I asked if I could continue to do the printing and since the new teacher in my room didn't want the responsibility, they were more than happy to keep me employed. I had to do it as an independent contractor though, and I was required to buy a $2,000,000 liability policy to continue to be in the school with the students. At times now I do tire of lifting the 40 pound boxes of paper all the time and doing all the trimming on the guillotinepaper cutter I have in my garage, but I'm good for at least 6 more years, I think!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.