For more than 40 years, Mike Hendricks has taught at Blue Ridge High School.
The Farmer City resident and Blue Ridge physics and chemistry teacher has been a fixture at the school, where he has taught, coached and helped students throughout his career, which started in 1969.
Now, Hendricks is ready to start a new chapter in his life and is closing the books on his teaching career this year in May.
To recognize Hendricks’ dedication and service to Blue Ridge High School, the Student Council and Blue Ridge FFA decided to create a retirement T-shirt for the occasion. A caricature of Mr. Hendricks, which was drawn by high school student Lane Arteman, adorns the front of the T-shirt with famous quotes quipped by Hendricks on the back of the shirt.
Blue Ridge senior Conner Builta, who is the Student Council vice president and FFA president, said he and his fellow classmates worked with teacher Don Anton to craft the idea.
A committee of students then worked to put the list of quotes together for the shirt, which they then shared with Hendricks.
Some of the quotes included on the shirt are “Freaky Friday! Bah!,” “Hit them straight and count them all.” and “You just cost the school thousands of dollars.”
“He really is a great teacher and someone who will be missed,” Builta said. “He treats you like one of his children. And he has taken the time to give students the best possible education at Blue Ridge.”
Builta said his goal is to make the shirts available to the more than 3,000 students that Hendricks has taught during his career.
The cream T-shirts are being sold for $10 in sizes adult small to XXL. To order a shirt, call the high school at (309) 928-2622. Half of the proceeds from the shirts will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, an organization that was selected by Hendricks.
Hendricks said he was flattered when the students approached him about the idea.
“I feel blessed to have students that think about and do for the community,” he said.
Anton said the T-shirt project has been a terrific opportunity to honor Hendricks.
“He is the epitome of all of the best ideas that come to mind when we think of what it means to be a teacher,” he said. “I’m proud of the Student Council and the FFA for finding a way to show how much he means to the Blue Ridge community.”
From coaching golf, football, girls basketball, scholastic bowl and boys and girls golf to teaching chemistry and physics to leading groups of Blue Ridge students to Europe 18 different times, Hendricks said he has been fortunate to have these opportunities.
“And, I’ve been very fortunate to do this career,” he said. “I have something that I like to do each day.”
And that includes working with students and helping them achieve.
“It’s been neat to see how they take a place in the world and to watch their accomplishments,” he said. “I teach people to learn how to learn. It’s been great to see the success and progress of my students through the years.”
But that career has come with changes.
From mimeograph machines and chalk blackboards to computers, overheads and whiteboards, technology has altered the way students gather knowledge and teachers teach.
But he said what has not changed is that students still want to learn.
“Students still like a good story,” he said. “They want to be affiliated with something, achieve success, learn and worry about the future.”
When Hendricks came to the district in 1969, he helped to design and build the science labs. “I used those labs for 28 years, and then I helped design a new lab again at the high school,” he said.
The Mattoon native, who graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a major in chemistry and physics and a minor in math, said he decided to become a teacher because his parents instilled in him that “teachers are an important part of our society and they make a difference.”
He and his wife, Brenda, who is the district librarian, have three children, Brant, Amber and Jamie, who all attended Blue Ridge. Hendricks said he is thankful that he got to watch his kids grow up in a small town and see them take leadership roles, play sports and become involved in school.
“I enjoy the community,” he said. “I’ve served on the Kiwanis, helped with the Farmer City Christmas parade and hosted foreign exchange students. It’s been great to have such positive interaction with the community.”
To Hendricks, retiring means moving on to the next stage of life.
Touring Germany on the Luther Tour with his wife, taking an Honor Flight to remember his dad who served in World War II, substitute teaching, tutoring students in chemistry and physics, teaching at a community college and continuing to serve as treasurer at Immanuel Lutheran Church of Osman will keep him busy in the upcoming months.
After teaching, encouraging and coaching students for so many years, Hendricks says he ready to sit back, relax and cross some items off of his bucket list.