Carl Vickers, Dorchester
If he's not at a meeting, or a celebration, or volunteering for some community cause, Carl Vickers is busy making plans or cracking jokes. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, retired from the U.S. Postal Service, he worked plenty of jobs early on, from crew member on a cruise ship to teaching assistant at the Timilty School.
Below, in his own words, is a small part of his teaching story.
“When I was a teaching assistant at the Timilty School, I told them all, I says, ‘You don’t have to love me, but you better respect me.’ I never swore at them or anything like that. But I gave them a growl. Oh, they called me the track star of Timilty School ‘cause I’d chase you down the corridor in a heartbeat.
I had a girl one time, I went in the classroom, she was raising the devil in there, and I told her, ‘Sit down, keep quiet,’ and she refused. I says, ‘Well, leave the room.’ She wouldn’t leave the room. So I pull the chair out from under her.
And if I pull that chair out from under you, you’re going to do one of two things: Either you’re going to stand up or you’re going to fall down. She stood up. But when she stood up, she took her textbook and she hit me upside the head- and ran.
And you know something? I was right on her tail!
But seriously, I respected the kids, and that’s what I wanted from them, for them to respect me.
One time, I ran into a kid on the street- this was after the Timilty School- and he was coming home from school and he had a book bag in his hand. So I said to him: ‘What have you got in there?’ He says, ‘My books.’ So I says, ‘Books?! Since when did you have books in a book bag?!’
‘Oh, Mr. Vickers!’ he said. He was going to Thayer Academy, and he wanted to thank me because I used to get after him in school. So he told me he’s doing well in school and so forth. So it made me feel good to think that if I had got nobody else, I got him right.
I say if you’re interested in something, don’t let anybody stop you. Set your goal, go for it, and don’t get discouraged. I met a young girl working over at Walgreens over there, and she was going to Roxbury Community College, and she was going to quit. So I said, ‘Why are you quitting?’
So she says she wasn’t doing too well. So I said, ‘Well, tell me something. Do you want to work at Walgreens the rest of your life?’ She says, no. I said, ‘Well, you’re in college. Stay there. Get your degree.” I used to see her periodically, and she told me she made the Dean’s list.
Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it doesn’t. But that’s me. I stick my nose in a lot of people’s business.”
This story was produced in partnership between Everyday Boston and the office of Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell that brings together District 4 seniors with their formerly incarcerated neighbors to collect the seniors' stories.
Carl was interviewed by story ambassador Kamal Oliver, who now works as facilities coordinator at the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. "I was excited to interview Carl because I have a strong respect for veterans and educators," said Kamal. "I liked that Carl was a no-nonsense teacher who commanded respect and a straight shooter who spoke from his heart- a trait that encouraged more people than Carl could've known."