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Poland High teacher remembered for ‘awesome’ impact on teens
POLAND
As soon as news got out that Poland Seminary High School teacher Suzanne Van Meter had died, the tributes began pouring in.
Dozens of friends, colleagues, and former students took to her Facebook page to express what she’d meant to them.
Some recalled her frequent exclamation – “ooh ooh!” – to hint to her English students the significance of something they were reading or watching.
Others noted how she had influenced their careers, encouraging a passion for education or sparking an interest in writing. Some referred to the transcendentalist philosophy that guided her.
Many said she had taught them to see the world differently. Many, too, remembered her personal impact on them, saying she taught them to believe in themselves – and to be a little rebellious.
The messages reflect the impact of a career in education that those who knew her say was defined by her unique world view and love for her students.
Van Meter, 73, died Sept. 29 of an apparent heart attack. She had recently retired from the English department, but had come back part-time to teach French.
Although she is gone, her colleagues say her impact will long be felt. They remember her as energetic, fun-loving, honest, feisty, kind, defiant of labels, and possessing a knack to “speak teenager,” as her daughter, Carrie Klimeczko, says.
“She was our wizard,” said high-school English teacher Karen Simko, alluding to “the hero’s journey” about which Van Meter taught her students. “She was the Gandalf to our hobbit. She was our mentor, our guide.”
Van Meter graduated from Poland in 1962, then got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively, from Bowling Green State University and Case Western Reserve University. She began her teaching career at Sylvania Public Schools, then taught at Cleveland Heights High School for a time.
In 1973, she married Don Van Meter. She continued her education, completing all but her dissertation in psychology at Kent State.
Van Meter began teaching at Poland in the early 1980s, first as a part-time French teacher and later as a full-time English teacher.
She took on many other roles, too: Cheerleading coach. Sports reporter and photographer. Scorekeeper. The voice of the marching band. Head of the English department. High-school newspaper adviser. Mother of Christopher and Carrie. Later, grandmother. Mentor. Yoda (a reference among coworkers and students to her wisdom and small stature).
“When I taught [British literature], I used to say, ‘To say ‘Queen Elizabeth’ and to say ‘England’ was the same thing,” said Scott Suchora, a close friend of Van Meter’s. “To say ‘Mrs. Van’ and to say ‘Poland’ was exactly the same thing.”
In her spare time, her favorite pastimes included reading and listening to Cleveland Indians games – often at the same time. She’d sit in her kitchen, smoking and tearing through books both trashy and literary.
Another love: Food, but rarely cooked by her.
“I’m pretty sure her stove was not hooked up for 30 years,” Suchora said. “But I have never known anyone in my life who enjoyed food the way that woman enjoyed food.”
“Making your own meaning was something she was big about,” he added. “Her meaning was, largely, family, school and food.”
Suchora met her in 1988 when he took one of her classes, and the two struck up an enduring friendship. He, too, is an English teacher at the high school, for which he gives her credit.
“The thing that made her so excellent was that she would approach the student at the level they were at and teach them. She took the kid from where they were at to where they needed to be, regardless of the starting point,” he said. “When she was my teacher, I was an angry, confused young man. She took me where I was and accepted me for what I was. And she extinguished my anger with love.”
Michael Daley, who previously taught English at the high school, said he’s heard people say “Mrs. Van is awesome!” countless times over the years. To him, it was symbolic, because “awesome” was a special word for her.
“Mrs. Van’s ‘Awesome!’ was more important than an ‘A’ on a test or essay. It had more impact than a paycheck. “Awesome!” was the recognition of independent and critical thought, a glowing affirmation of someone coming of age,” Daley said. “Mrs. Van believed in the youth faithfully. Her influence is immeasurable. She was awesome!”
Those who knew her hope that some of that “awesome” will live on. Klimeczko calls it “carrying the torch.”
“She had a light. She had a spark. An unwavering view of the world, that people are good. And that there’s work to do,” she said. “And that work is far from finished. But she was a huge piece in moving that forward.”