Retired history teacher still finds ways to make a difference

Hats off to David Lemons, long-time outstanding Urbana High School history teacher (now retired), who touched the lives of literally thousands of students in his 36 years at the school and set a great example for his colleagues. Add two years at Mahomet-Seymour High School just out of college and another 15 years of teaching political science at Parkland College after retirement makes 53 total years in the classroom. But anyone who knows him, or took a class with him, will tell you he was much, much more than a great teacher.

During his first year at UHS, Lemons married wife Kay. From those early years, she says, his motto for teaching history was “Feel History.” Among the things he did to advance the motto included creating ideas for World War II museums; planning community field trips to local historical sites; having guest speakers with relevant experiences and stories to make history come alive; collaborating with colleagues in art, music, language and English; attending law-focused education conferences in places like San Francisco, Boston, Williamsburg, Rockford and Orlando; and traveling to 83 countries and all 50 states that enriched the units he taught.

Retired UHS Assistant Principal Grace Ashenfelter, who worked with him many of those years said, “David's contributions to UHS, and its community, extended far beyond teaching. From 1968 to 2004, David Lemons was a cornerstone of the Urbana High School community. His exceptional impact continues today, several decades following his UHS retirement. As a master teacher of history, his classroom was a dynamic environment where creative thinking thrived and students were empowered to succeed.”

One former student, Dan Stebbins, class of 1990, said, “Mr. Lemons would sometime get up on the desk, wave his arms and talk excitedly about the lesson for the day. I like history a lot now, and that’s what he taught us: to love and appreciate history.”

Urbana High School retirees gather for lunch. Standing, left to right, are Wuanita Kinoshita, Gene Amberg, Sandy Detamore Kuhne, Joan Shepherd, Cindy Cracraft, Ann Helm, Phyllis Gingold, Ray Elliott, Grace Ashenfelter, David Lemons, Polly Washington, Mary Kline and Paula Rogers. Seated, left to right, are Shandra Goodman, Chris Hopkins, Tami Bajima, Tim Murray, Randy Blackman, Sam Furrer and Jackie Matthews.

As sponsor of Student Senate, Ashenfelter said, “David spearheaded many initiatives that increased student involvement, both in service to the school and to the community, as well. One of the more noteworthy of those initiatives was the sponsorship of the Urbana High School Thanksgiving Dinner, begun in 1972, sponsored by Student Senate under David’s leadership. Over the years, this event has provided Thanksgiving dinner for thousands of community members – an annual event that is still going strong.”

It was during his second year at UHS, that Lemons was asked to sponsor Student Senate. At the time, it was primarily a social club held after school. That troubled him. Soon after taking over, he wrote a new constitution “that divided the school into seven wards, similar to the seven wards in the Urbana City Council that guaranteed equal, diverse representation. And he arranged meetings during the school day so all students could attend. Senate became a political organization, in addition to having a community-service focus.”

Stebbins was also a member of Student Senate and says he joined because Lemons was the sponsor. Through the years while I was teaching at UHS, I heard many students make similar comments about Lemon’s influence.

Examples of projects that he spearheaded outside the classroom include a 1973 New Year’s Eve glass drive that collected bottles from the celebration left on front porches and yielding 26 tons of glass; yearly competitive canned food drives (once needing a small semitruck to collect all the canned goods); championing the career of UHS cross-country runner Diane Bell in 1972 (before Title IX) by advocating for equal representation of girls in athletics at the Illinois Student Council Convention in Chicago.

“It was so radical,” Kay said, “that David was censored by the state organization.”

Regardless of that and along the way in 1994, Lemons “was nominated as a candidate to receive an Award of Excellence by the Illinois State Board of Education. He was chosen as one of 12 teachers in the state of Illinois to receive the Those who Excel award for his outstanding contribution to Illinois education.”

Harold Dean, a UHS history teaching colleague of Lemons for many years, said, “One of his biggest accomplishments was organizing a presidential convention at the Assembly Hall. Various high schools in the area sent student delegations representing the 50 states. They created a presidential doctrine, then various candidates gave speeches to try and get the nomination to run for president. The students then voted for their favorite candidate. I believe it was in 1976.”

For years after her own retirement, Ashenfelter said a small group of women who retired from UHS met once a month for lunch. One year, she invited Lemons to join them. That opened up another opportunity for Lemons to serve. He “has since assumed leadership of the group and has worked to guarantee that no retired person be excluded and organized a database of 84 retired UHS staff that includes 65 teachers, as well as former superintendents, secretaries, counselors, custodians, and even a member of the board of education.”

Lemons now organizes monthly luncheons at Houlihan’s — and twice since, he and Kay have hosted and prepared lunches at their home when it wasn’t possible to go to Houlihan’s. He remembers birthdays, considers the needs of members, and even coordinates memorials when a retiree dies. At each meal, he conducts the meeting; reports on other members who are traveling; passes around birthday cards for all to sign (provided and prepared by retired counselor and budding artist Polly Washington); reports on those who are ill or hospitalized; has one of the servers take a photo that he sends to the list soon after the meeting; announces the next meeting; and later emails for reservations for the following month.

Washington said, “David is one of a kind. He is truly a genuine person. He has been this way since I've known him (40-plus years). Very inspirational, uplifting, and just fun to be around. He was an amazing and dedicated teacher and Student Senate sponsor at Urbana High School for many years.”

Ralph Hursey, a 1969 UHS graduate and successful lawyer in Florida who spoke at the Davids and Kay Lemon’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration, said, “When I think back to 1969, I remember two things vividly: the smell of freshly sharpened pencils in our high school history class … and the joy of opening the Sunday paper to find the latest Peanuts comic strip. Mr. Lemons, you were the kind of teacher who could make the Boston Tea Party feel as exciting as Snoopy’s adventures on top of his doghouse.”

That’s the kind of teacher who educates students, and that’s the kind of individual who makes this community and this country great.