Second in a series
Re “Is There a Right Time for a Chabola to Retire?”
[img]1372|left|Jerry Chabola||no_popup[/img]Twinkle-eyed Jerry Chabola has not quite been the athletic director of Culver City High School since the day before football was invented, but long enough to forget anything else he has done is 63 years of living maximally.
Was deciding to retire difficult?
“Mmmmm, yes and no,” Mr. Chabola said one recent morning in his cozy office. “It was difficult because I am a pretty active person, trying to figure out where I would go after retirement.”
He concluded, quickly, that post-retirement will be the fraternal twin of pre-retirement. “I probably will do the same thing I am doing now, working with kids, working with my six grandkids, from almost 13 to 4½, and helping out where I can in different places.”
Jerry and Janet Chabola have traveled widely throughout his years as athletic director, and the pace is going to accelerate after next month.
“We will travel more, and we already after started. “Friends of ours retired to La Paz, and we visited with them for five days. We already have planned a four-day trip to Half Moon Bay with another couple. It looks now like we are going to wind up in southern Michigan and go to Notre Dame to a football game in September.”
Time for bookkeeping. Three months ago yesterday, Mr. Chabola retired from his classroom duties, where he taught Government and Economics. Which does he like better?
“”I like the Government component because I think political efficacy is an important part of our society. People need to get involved at whatever level they are comfortable.
“Even before I began teaching, I have felt that, at the least everyone should vote.”
How did he teach political efficacy to his students?
“To me it simply means getting involved. If voting is your limit, vote intelligently.
“Become educated in the process. You study the issues, the candidates and make a decision based on your political philosophy as opposed to the caricature you see in a 30-second spot on TV or a newspaper ad where you like the background or the people the candidate is posing with.”
Did you give your students pragmatic direction on how to become involved?
“Absolutely. The part I like to convey to them is that, No. 1, the most important level of involvement is local. Few people have been in the presence of a President of the United States, let alone speak to a United States senator or a Congressperson. Even at the state level, you have a minimal amount of time. If you go on lobbying expeditions, as the PTA does, I have taken kids on those, you get half an hour, 45 minutes.
“But any of us in this city, can go to a gas station, supermarket, any function, and spend almost as long as you wish speaking to a Councilperson, a School Board member, Parks and Recreation people, someone from Planning, all of the agencies you can imagine.”
(To be continued)
