St. Ignatius teacher retires after 40 years
Karen Peterson photo
John Fleming, St. Ignatius teacher
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ST. IGNATIUS – A caravan of about 30 cars with honking horns and emergency vehicles with sirens blaring met at the bottom of Ravalli Hill to escort John Fleming as he returned to town in a bus full of eighth graders.
“I planned to return the kids,” the St. Ignatius middle school history teacher jokingly said when he came off the bus as sirens from the ambulance and the fire trucks continued.
Parents, teachers and past students weren’t worried about Fleming bringing the kids home. They wanted to honor him for his 40 years of teaching and acknowledge the last of his 19 eighth-grade trips before he retires from teaching this month.
“It was the first time I ever saw Mr. Fleming tear up,” eighth grader Morgan Hall said of Mr. Fleming’s reaction from inside the bus. “I looked over and he was doing one of these under his shades,” Morgan said running his fingers under his eyes.
Fleming started taking students on the four day Tour of Montana field trip in 1995 to see various sites like the Lewis and Clark Caverns, West Yellowstone and the Big Hole Battlefield.
“Over the years, we’ve only had one bus break down for a few hours and only one injury besides a few blisters,” Fleming said.
On the trip, the group takes several hikes.
“Mr. Fleming gets around better than most students,” Morgan said. “At the Madison Buffalo Jump, he was climbing rocks like Spiderman.”
Fleming plans the trip around the history lessons he teaches in the classroom during the year.
“I try to get a cultural balance into the trip,” he said.
In honor of Mr. Fleming’s last trip, Morgan said the students “played pranks” on their teacher.
“Because he has a mustache, we all put on mustaches and faced him. He got a good smile when he saw us,” Morgan said. “He was smiling a lot during the trip.”
Morgan recalled a few difficult experiences in Fleming’s classes over the past few years.
“Even when you get in trouble, he tries to help you understand why you’re in trouble. One of the things he taught me was to own up to what I do. He is just the best teacher.”
Morgan also picked up a few history lessons.
“He is always talking about politics and history and about what is going on in the world. He narrows down the topics so you’re not talking about rumors. He teaches you the facts so you can think about the issues.”
During the trip, Morgan used the map reading skills he learned in class.
“If you can’t read the map when you’re lost, then it’s just fire starter,” he said.
Fleming spent his 40 years of teaching at the Mission School District. He started teaching in a Title I class and later became a fifth grade teacher. Twenty years ago, he started teaching middle school. Teaching, he said, has changed over the years.
“Teachers have more support today,” Fleming said, saying that when he started teaching one teacher was expected to teach everything from physical education to art.
“Teachers didn’t get a break to catch up on paperwork or anything back then,” he said.
Other changes haven’t been so great.
“We have much more testing,” he said of the state tests. “Eventually we will get that under control.”
Fleming spent most of his 67 years in the area.
“I grew up on a fa rm in Pablo,” he said.
Fleming plans to continue living on his current farm near St. Ignatius. He hopes to get involved with more volunteer projects and remain with the various boards he is a member of around the valley. His family is also at the top of his retirement to-do list.
“I also like to ski, fish and hunt, so I hope to do more of that,” he said.
Fleming taught many students over the years and some of them, like Colleen Cordier and Tim Krantz, became teachers working in the same district.
“He taught all my kids and myself,” Cordier said. “From being his student to co-worker to a parent of a student, I think he has always been there to help kids, and he wants them to love education. St. Ignatius will have some big shoes to fill now that he is retiring.”
