Hogan's heroes

I usually try not to dabble into the news realm of the R&L, but the suspension of popular teacher and track coach James Hogan has really blurred that line.

Hogan - no relation to Hulk- was suspended with pay following an e-mail that questioned South Iredell's teaching mentality, among other things. For the complete run-down, click here to read Chyna Broadnax's story.

I obviously have not sat in on one of Hogan's AP English classes. One year of reading the Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick was quite enough for me.

But, I do cover South Iredell athletics, and I've seen Hogan at meets and practices.

He's a fine coach, one who was approachable and helpful in a trying year as South was forced to hold makeshift track practices during major construction renovations.

Good coaches typically make pretty good teachers. That's just the way it works. And that seems to be the case here as Hogan was voted Teacher of the Year.

So when the ever-popular Hogan was suspended, escorted from his classroom one day like some sort of transgressor, his pupils responded.

His students, both former and current, along with others in the South Iredell community attended and protested Monday night's Iredell-Statesville Board of Education meeting.

South soccer player Kendal Blackwelder told me students made Facebook.com groups, and also created and wore T-shirts to school. Some read "Where's Hogan?", while others said "Teach Kids," which was essentially the theme of Hogan's e-mail.

I read Hogan's e-mail. The whole thing. I found it insightful and inspiring.

A bunch of the students also got their hands on the e-mail. They, too, found it inspiring.

The result? A bunch of high school students - kids, really, in Hogan's own words - doing everything in their power to let it be known they did not agree with the decisions made by people in authority.

Sixteen, 17 and 18-year-old kids, doing what they could to stop what they thought was an injustice, standing up for what they felt was right.

what teaching - and learning - is all about.