Published: July 23, 2008 08:34 am      

‘Dangerous Minds author speaks at education conference

Author of the best-selling novel-turned Hollywood movie “Dangerous Minds” spoke Tuesday to kick off a three-day conference focused on teaching at-risk students.

LouAnne Johnson, a former U.S. Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer and high school teacher, was the opening keynote speaker for the seventh annual Alternative Strategies for Educating Students At-Risk at Perkins Building on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus.

The conference, which also features numerous educational workshops, is presented by Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC).

“You’re probably thinking, ‘She doesn’t look like a Marine, but she looks exactly like Michelle Pfeiffer,’” said Johnson, referring to the cinematic star of “Dangerous Minds.” “Isn’t the resemblance amazing?”

Johnson taught English in a San Mateo County, Calif., high school in 1989.

The following year, she taught English and reading to non-English speaking students and was selected as one of four teachers for the Computer Academy, a school within a school for at-risk teens.

Before teaching, she was stationed during her military career in the Philippines for three and a half years, living with a Filipino family.

“I learned a lot that helped me to be a more compassionate teacher,” Johnson said. “I learned what it feels like to be the only one in the neighborhood with my skin color. I learned what it feels like to not be able to speak the language that everyone around you can speak.”

“So, when I work with ESL (English as a Second Language) students, I realize that they’re doing four times the amount of work as a native language speaker because they’re translating going out, coming in and giving it back,” she said.

While the first class she taught was not as bad as the students portrayed in “Dangerous Minds,” they were pretty close, Johnson said.

After a book was thrown at her when she made “a tactical error” of turning around to write her name on the board, she learned that the students’ regular teacher was forced into tears so many times that she resigned and two substitute teachers refused to return after spending one day each in the classroom.

Johnson decided to take a stand.

“I walked up to the front of the room and said, ‘I am too young to retire and too mean to quit so sit down and shut up. You all have a teacher and I’m staying,’” she said.

“I said, ‘Do you see that door you walked in? If you want to be an ignorant failure the rest of your life, you walk right back out. Don’t come in here and waste your time and mine because I’m not here to boss you around. I’m here to help you be successful people. ... I will require that you think. If anyone dies from that, I will take full responsibility for your death,’” Johnson said.

She still is in contact, usually via e-mail, with her first group of students, who have gone on to be successful as everything from a real estate agent and a high school football coach to a school nurse and video game designer.

“These are kids who weren’t expected to graduate if they were still alive when they were 18,” Johnson said. “The success of those kids has made me have so much more faith in the power of the human heart than in any expert opinion or standardized test.”

Bryan Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@richmondregister.com or 624-6691.