Glorify Each Day weaves
mystery into many aspects of everyday life creating a very compelling and
thought-provoking reading experience. John Banks created a unique realism of
his characters within a familiar classroom setting, drawing the reader into the
story in such a way one might forget you’re reading a work of fiction.
Tommy, known also to his students as Teach is a rather
peculiar type of fellow. He was raised
in the standard modern “nuclear family” with a typical upbringing, but
something was just odd about Teach. For
example, once as an adolescent he hit Señor
Perro, his family dog, so brutally that he knocked the poor dog unconscious,
all because the dog was barking. Fortunately, the dog was okay; but this was an indicator that Teach did indeed
have a dark side to him.
Teach worked for the Toxononomonee
Community College as a part-time instructor in the GED program. He had a variety of interesting characters in
his class and the way in which John Banks combined the student’s eccentricities
and personalities created a much deeper insight into each of them. There were the typical trouble makers like
George Delmar and Oliver North, as GED class was court ordered for each of them
while they were out on probation. Then
there was Tyroniko Huy, who also was a troubled soul; just to name a few of the
bad apples in Teach’s class. Teach also
had his favorite students such as Maria Gonzales, a Mexican, studying in the
ESL program to get her GED. There was
also Charlotte Gaston, who at the age of 65 was working to finally get her GED. Singularly, none of these characters could have
served as the focal point of this book, however as a group, their synergy of
personalities took on a role of itself.
Teach was not the stereotypical teacher yet had his own
unconventional teaching method of trying to help his students get ahead in life. At one point he had his students write an
essay about themselves for a homework assignment. That task could have been more therapeutic
for Teach and learning about the hidden lessons of life if he just opened his
eyes. However, it did enable Teach to learn more
about each of his students; what motivated them and what their dreams were.
Teach faced some challenging situations both in his professional
life and his personal life that opened Pandora’s
Box. He tried to come to terms with
the demons in his past and his forbidden secrets that he hid inside himself for
many years. The author did show how much
this had an effect on Teach. He was not
happy nor was he comfortable with his actions, however he did what he felt was
right.
His girlfriend Cheryl was very loyal to him; however he periodically
has some “crying spells” in front of her at inappropriate times which exhibited
behavior that seemed to be rather outlandish. Concerned about Teach, she insisted he should go see a therapist. He obliges and then divulged to Dr. Carney
some of his deep rooted secrets and his unyielding fondness for Cait, Teach’s
ex-girlfriend, who he could not get out of his mind even though the
relationship had been over for a long time.
Upon finishing the book, one realizes that John Banks chose
an extremely clever title in Glorify Each
Day. The cover picture of a dark
shadow in the background holding a weapon ready to strike depicts the turmoil
and past secrets Teach had to face. Although at times the subject matter was a bit dark; the story is
humorous and the plot moved at a pretty rapid pace. Even though this book is not about education,
I highly recommend Glorify Each Day
to teachers, professors and school counselors as well as people looking for a
memorable story. As not all teachers still
have the passion for their students they had on their first day of teaching,
this book reminds you how important it is to keep that “spark” fresh, each and every
day while in the classroom.
