I hadn't thought about Milo Okkema for a long time when I saw the recent obituary for Paul Samuelson. You see Mr Okkema used the classic Samuelson Economics textbook for an experimental class in Economics he taught at RHS in 1974-75. My brother came home from college one time and noticed me reading this tome and he said it was the same textbook being used at the University of Pennsylvania, and no doubt hundreds of other institutions. This observation made me feel good about taking such a demanding class as a 10th grader, with mostly Juniors and Seniors as my classmates.
Mr Okkema was a great teacher, not only because he was so demanding and expected plenty from everybody. He was a great teacher because he prepared himself so well and gave us very precise and detailed study guides for his exams. He was a thrifty sort and would type on the edges of the "ditto" sheets he would provide for every class. You would easily remember these if you were blindfolded and a fresh one was waved in front of your nose.
Mr Okkema produced vast loyalty among his students, especially those who could see they were being instructed by a man whose mind was sharp as a tack. He also would illicit great scorn by those who were afraid or didn't want to be challenged intellectually. These poor souls would taunt him behind his back and were incapable of seeing how lucky there were.
As for myself, I went along for the ride and when I left at the end of the year with a "B" for my efforts I knew I had been taught economics by an expert. And as it turned out I ended up with a college degree in Economics. Though sad to say I never had as memorable professor as Milo Okkema, nor one who has inspired a page in his memory on FaceBook
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Paul,
ReplyDeleteHe was an amazing teacher, i believe I may have been in that same class, intimidated at first as Sophmores, but ending up enjoying it and thinking how advanced it was when I got to college.
Rob Lane
He was surperb -- we used to call him "Meatloaf" Okkema, when he was out of earshot, of course -- I recall many conversations where he ran intellectual circles around me and others -- and he was just one of so many unique teachers we had back then.
ReplyDeleteHe was my last period class...the class from 2:00 to 3:00 and his room was on the west side of the building near the clock tower so the afternoon sun would pour in, and put me sleep everytime! I was a horrible student, but I didn't mean to be, I just kept falling asleep. I can however recite the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble to the Constitution by heart because "Milo" made us memorize it for our senior history test. I also have always remembered John Donne "Ask not for whom the bell tolls" which "Milo" had over the classroom door.
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