It’s generally not a good thing to tell lies, but in this case Mike Doody didn’t mind getting fibbed to.
A lot of people went to a lot of trouble to keep it a secret that the sixth grade math teacher at Hilda Walker Intermediate School in Tinley Park was the recipient of the Chicago Bears Classroom Legend award. They went into a sophisticated plan of attack to surprise him.
Summit Hill Elementary District 161 officials even called the mission, put into action Sept. 24, Operation Bear Down.
The first lie of the day came when officials snuck sixth graders into the lunchroom while Doody was having a planning period in which fellow teacher Leah Fischer sought out his help.
“I was teaching her about a program that I use,” Doody said. “That was a total lie because she already knew how to use it. She lied to me.”
Then, the phone rang. More falsehoods were on the way.
“The office said there was a problem with some students in the gym, and they asked if I could come down and watch the kids who were still in the lunchroom,” he said.
Doody said he thought there was a fight, and said he ran into the school’s principal, Maura Carroll, into the hallway.
“I saw the look on her face and said, ‘oh, boy, this is serious,'” Doody said.
He saw the lunchroom windows were taped up with cardboard.
When Doody opened the door, he saw Staley, the Bears mascot, school officials, hundreds of screaming sixth graders, his wife, his daughter and former Bears player Christian Jones.
“It felt like an eternity, but it took me 20 or 30 seconds to realize what was going on,” Doody said. “The whole celebration started after that,” he said.
He admits he was happily hoodwinked.
“It was all coercion and to get Mr. Doody off of his game,” he said. “They got me big time because I had no idea what was going on. No idea whatsoever.”
Doody received a $1,000 grant to support his classroom, a personalized Bears jersey and a commemorative football. He was also given tickets to the Oct. 4 Bears home game at Soldier Field, where he was on the field before the game and recognized on the videoboard.
Sixth grader Cash Colly, who is in the school’s video club which Doody moderates, called him “Mr. Awesome.”
Mario Norbury-Montalto, a sixth grader who has Doody as a math teacher, is also a big fan.
“He makes math fun by adding jokes into it and he lets us have breaks,” Norbury-Montalto said.
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That’s what Doody strives for.
“My philosophy is there is work time and play time,” he said. “There is a good mixture of both, where we can have fun while learning math.
“A lot of kids at this age are still trying to figure themselves out. I try to get them excited about math and try to tell them how much math is involved in the world.”
Teaching and moderating the math, video and chess clubs at Hilda Walker takes up a lot of time, but the Tinley Park native and Andrew High School alum has volunteered for four years with Honor Flight. He also volunteers for Autism on the Seas, which provides cruise vacation services to accommodate adults and families living with children with special needs.
He plays drums for the band at The Stone Church in Orland Park and the Tinley Park Community Band.
The 20-year Bears season ticket holder even finds time to attend games and works at Brookfield Zoo as a tram driver and tour guide.
“I like keeping busy,” he understated.
But the main part of his life is teaching. He was nominated for the Bears award by fellow teacher Steve Radostits.
“Michael Doody is the kind of teacher I wish I had, and that every child hopes to have at least once in their life,” Radostits wrote in his nomination letter. “He refuses to let any student believe that they can’t learn and understands that every child learns differently. One of his greatest strengths is the time and patience he gives to students who are struggling.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.