DAYTON, Ohio — A teacher in the business for more than 50 years is nearly unheard of- but one Dayton Public School teacher is going on 51 years in the classroom.
What You Need To Know
- Michael Unger has been teaching for 51 years
- He decided last spring to finally put some of his stories to paper
- With the help of seven seniors, Unger was able to write his stories of both his students and colleagues
- Proceeds from the book goes to scholarships for students at the Stivers School for the Arts
Michael Unger has been a teacher for 51 years, and he’s still going strong.
“I like my job, it’s a great job, my students are fantastic,” Unger said.
His students think the same.
Unger speaks to some of his students in his classroom (Spectrum News/Katie Kapusta)
“All of the students before me really built him up and put him on a pedal stool,” said Maggie Holmes, one of Unger’s students. “And then you get to his class and you really realize how great he is. He talks to us as if we’re real people and not just some people in a classroom that he has to teach some things to.”
They say Unger shares all sorts of lessons he’s learned throughout his years as a teacher.
“Unger is going to tell you a lot of life lessons in life because he has been through so much, he has heard so much and he has that open connection with you,” said Paige Young, another one of Unger’s students. “If you need support, ask Unger.”
Which Unger has put to paper. The U.S. Government teacher at Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton just published his first book titled ‘Teach: Lessons I Learned From My Students and Colleagues.’
His now late wife and a near death experience inspired Unger to write his stories.
“I would tell her stories of a student that I had that day or something that showed resilience and tenacity,” Unger said. “And so it happened that she said one time, she said to me, Michael, you need to write a book. And so it was last year I had an incident where I was going home from radiation from cancer and it was a dangerous situation where I went off the road and I thought, uh oh, I better get this book done. And so it’s a promise to my wife to write a book.”
Unger’s late wife was a big inspiration to write the book (Spectrum News/Katie Kapusta)
But Unger didn’t do this all on his own. He got the help of seniors last spring to help collect his stories.
“I enlisted the help of seven students in creative writing,” he said. “So I would narrate a story with them, talk to them and they would write it out and then we’d edit it and edit it and edit it until finally we think we got it right.”
Now those stories are bound in this book- a book his current students get the chance to read and benefit from.
“All the proceeds go to scholarships for Stivers students,” he said.
To learn more or to purchase Unger’s book, click here.
