As the school year came to a close, Air Force veteran, Spanish teacher and former coach Dean Tower completed his 50th year at Columbus Bishop Ready High School and his 51st year teaching in the Diocese of Columbus.
The 81-year-old began his teaching career in 1972 at Columbus Father Wehrle High School on the south side. The school closed in 1991.
After one year at Wehrle, Tower moved over to Bishop Ready, where he has remained for the past five decades.
“When I signed my first contract to teach at Ready, I thought that I was just committing to a job,” Tower said. “Little did I know that I was committing to something more.
“The Ready community is a tightly knit family. The students, parents, staff and faculty are all members of (that) family. Whenever I had any personal difficulties in my life, it was my Ready family that I could turn to for empathy and support.”
When Tower’s wife of 30 years, Maria, passed away in 1996, he said he found much consolation in the Ready community.
“The Ready family was there for me and my family with an outpouring of love and support in so many ways,” he said. “For me, Ready is more than a place to work. It has become a home away from home for more than half of my life.”
Matthew Brickner, who is finishing his third year as Ready’s principal and 22nd year at the school, spoke highly of Tower and his ability to connect with the students.
“(He) … has a blend of knowledge, passion and dedication to teaching,” Brickner said. “He (has created) a learning environment that students continue to find success in. Being in the classroom over 50 years, seeing the changes in the world and in our society, and being able to adjust and adapt to new ideas, technology, and changing curriculum (all) demonstrate why he is a great teacher.”
Tower, a Massachusetts native, enlisted in the Air Force immediately after his 1960 high school graduation.
“My first posting was in Columbus, where I met Maria. We were married in 1966,” he said. The couple settled in Columbus and were blessed with three children and four grandchildren.
After serving two tours of duty, Tower was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1968 and then enrolled at Ohio State University. He graduated with a degree in education, specializing in Spanish and English, and was soon hired at Wehrle to teach English and coach wrestling and football.
After a year at Wehrle, he returned to Ohio State to pursue a graduate degree.
Currently, he teaches Spanish classes at Ready as well as Spanish I online to students at Columbus St. Cecilia School, Columbus Trinity Catholic School and ,Chillicothe Bishop Flaget School.
In addition to wrestling and football, Tower has coached both track and cross country over the years.
“Students that he taught and … coached … recognize his love for them,” Bricker said. “This past spring, two of his former cross-country runners called him from Boston the day before they ran in the Boston Marathon.”
The runners, who had been coached by Tower more than a decade earlier, wanted to tell him they were doing the marathon in his hometown.
Growing up in Massachusetts, Tower was raised Catholic and said the values of the faith are part of his core beliefs to this day.
“Teaching in a Catholic school has given me the opportunity to infuse these values into my classroom and teaching,” [che said. “Hopefully, I have served as a positive role model for my students and they will not only learn the Spanish language and culture, but will also leave my class as better people, equipped with the values needed to be productive citizens.”
Tower said that throughout his decades of teaching the biggest change he has noticed is the use of technology in the classroom.
“Being from the chalk-and-talk generation, it was a challenge for me to make the change to the technology era,” he said. “But I have … embraced it wholeheartedly.”
Reflecting on his years in the diocese, Tower said he recalls the names and faces of the many students he has taught and coached.
“They represent the fondest and warmest memories,” he said. “They were the reason that I walked into the building each and every day. It's amazing that I am teaching the grandchildren of many of the students that I taught during the early years.”
Tower plans to continue teaching in the fall.
“I still enjoy the kids and teaching gives me purpose and a reason to get out of bed every morning,” he said. “I have reduced my class load, but I still have the same enthusiasm I had back in 1974.”
