By Craig Williams

Mr. David Terry is a man of substantial depth. His total is far greater than the sum of his parts. The youngest of eleven children, Mr. Terry drank in the lessons, the mistakes, and the victories of his older brothers and sisters, and learned from them. He grew up in Mounds at a time when the region’s factories, quarries, and other nearby opportunities for work kept the community close to full employment. The reflections of his Pulaski County childhood frame an idyllic window on another time, a time in some ways very much the same as today, but in other ways, quite different. Shuttered or off-shored factories and other employers, for example, have had an undeniable impact on the economic fortunes of the region, and that impact has rippled in waves across Mounds and other nearby communities, along with the families who call them home. But a love for family and for community persists, and that spirit is what has kept Mr. Terry here.

After graduating from Meridian High School in 1982, Mr. Terry considered his options and decided on the U.S. Army. Upon his return to Mounds, he had intended to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. But, although education was always very important to him, he instead took a job with a local employer that could put dollars in his pocket right away. He says of the moment, that if he could go back in time and advise his younger self, he would have advised him to become a Saluki; to take the deferred dollars and the bigger opportunity. But that wouldn’t happen for another 21-years when, at the age of 42, he finally got around to making a college education his reality.

While attending SIUC in 1996, Terry began coaching basketball at Meridian High School and immediately found that it was about much more than boxing out and fast breaks. The boys knew basketball. Where they needed some help was with the game of life. He found himself being a father to some, a pastor to others, a chauffeur to a few, and a mentor to virtually all of his players. Teaching is like that. Every kid has a different set of needs, and educators like Mr. Terry find themselves taking on a whole range of roles on any given day for which no one could have prepared them. Frankly, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

On Sundays, Mr. Terry plays a different kind of role, the role of a preacher. On one recent Sunday, a gentleman opened the door of the church and took a seat in the back. After the service, the familiar-faced gentleman approached Mr. Terry to say hello and shake his hand. He had been a Meridian classmate from all those years ago, just retired from more than 30-years of service in the FBI. A life well-lived and well-mentored, back in the day, by people very much like today’s Mr. Terry. A difference was made and the ripples touched countless lives over all those years.

And that’s how it is. The best educators call upon their own life experiences to help students with their challenges. They summon lessons from their past and call into service all their wins, losses, victories, and failures. Mr. Terry has a broad range of experience from which to pull. And the students at Meridian are much better for it.