The Education of Neil Weiser
As a kid, Neil Weiser loved baseball. In fact, he loved it so much that he regularly joined the other guys in his Toledo neighborhood early each summer morning and played until darkness sent them home.
The countless hours on the grass-deprived field at Wernert’s Park paid dividends. At Whitmer Senior High, he earned four varsity letters as a centerfielder. Three times, he was voted All-Great Lakes District. As a junior, he batted .551.
“I just lived for baseball,” said the long-time Collegiate teacher and coach. “It was an obsession.”
Though just 5-9 and 135 pounds, Weiser was a decent basketball and football player as well. A guard, he averaged 6 points per game during his hoops career and his junior year was voted second-team all-conference. In the fall, he was a dependable outside linebacker and halfback, but he took a few too many shots to the body and turned in his helmet before his senior season.
“I wasn’t all-anything in football,” he says with typical self-deprecating humor, “except always injured.”
To say Weiser was a sports fanatic is an understatement. Too bad his passion didn’t extend to the classroom.
The countless hours on the grass-deprived field at Wernert’s Park paid dividends. At Whitmer Senior High, he earned four varsity letters as a centerfielder. Three times, he was voted All-Great Lakes District. As a junior, he batted .551.
“I just lived for baseball,” said the long-time Collegiate teacher and coach. “It was an obsession.”
Though just 5-9 and 135 pounds, Weiser was a decent basketball and football player as well. A guard, he averaged 6 points per game during his hoops career and his junior year was voted second-team all-conference. In the fall, he was a dependable outside linebacker and halfback, but he took a few too many shots to the body and turned in his helmet before his senior season.
“I wasn’t all-anything in football,” he says with typical self-deprecating humor, “except always injured.”
To say Weiser was a sports fanatic is an understatement. Too bad his passion didn’t extend to the classroom.
“I was immature and barely did enough to get by,” he recalled. “I
graduated with a high D average. Probably passed some classes through
the sheer generosity of the teachers.”
If you know Weiser and appreciate his intellect and wit, this revelation might surprise you. It’s true, though, and he shares his story freely and candidly, not as a cautionary tale but as a reminder that young folks are works in progress and that the best education often comes not just in the halls of ivy but from the school of hard knocks.
Boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center was his wake-up call. “It was a real shock,” he said. “You’re 17 years old, and you’ve got people yelling in your face and calling you nasty names you never heard before.
“It was the first time I’d been in an environment where there was no lapse of time between failing to do something and something bad happening to you.
“Childhood was over. There was no confusion about that.”
Months later while serving on the destroyer tender U.S.S. Tidewater, Weiser met Lt.Cmdr. Art Emde, the ship’s chaplain and librarian. His new friend recommended books, mainly biographies and historical novels. For the first time in his life, Weiser began to read voraciously and engage in intellectual conversations. A college education, never a consideration before, became his dream.
When his three-year hitch ended, he enrolled in Bowling Green State University in Ohio on the G.I. Bill and in 1970 graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in history and a minor in political science.
“My parents were absolutely dumbfounded,” he recalled with a chuckle. “People who knew me were stupefied. I was stupefied, frankly.”
He remained at BGSU, earned an M.A. in American history, then headed for William & Mary where he completed three years of Ph.D. work in history with a focus on the Colonial period. His goal was to teach in college, he passed his doctoral exams, but, realizing that the market for history professors was saturated, he moved on to Cheshire Academy in Connecticut before he finished his dissertation.
In the summer of 1982, he arrived on North Mooreland Road.
“When I was 16, if somebody had told me I’d end up teaching at a well-thought-of private school, I’d have concluded they were nuts,” he said. “You never know where life will take you.
During his tenure at Collegiate, he’s taught advanced placement U.S. history, government, and a host of electives including the highly popular “America in the ‘60s.” This year, he’s a member of a team teaching the Senior Seminar, an interdisciplinary course combining government, economics, and ethics.
He’s coached Cub and JV football, basketball, and baseball.
He’s shared his wealth of knowledge of and opinions on an array of issues from current affairs to philosophy to literature to sports, especially Mid-American Conference football. Unassuming and understated, he’s contributed his wisdom to numerous faculty committees and meetings and is considered by many to be a voice of reason.
Most important, he’s challenged, inspired, mentored, and commanded the respect of hundreds of students who’ve walked through his classroom door and still ask about him years later.
So what is it about teaching that excites you after all these years? I inquired.
“Well,” he said, “originally the joy was the intellectual exercise. Over the years it truly became getting to know the kids, working with them, and interacting with them day-to-day. Students here are self-motivated and disciplined. Most places aren’t like this.”
Did your own high school experience give you a certain empathy for the student who struggles? I continued.
“Definitely,” he replied. “I’ve learned not to be terribly judgmental or critical. Over the years, I’ve known kids I thought were lacking in talent and ability, only to find out later that they were incredible successes, especially in the business world.”
Any way you cut it, I said, you’re a huge success story.
“I don’t regard myself as anything other than a teacher,” he responded in typical Neil Weiser fashion. “Nobody realizes more than I do that people think more of me than I deserve. I’m not as smart or accomplished as they think I am. I’m just like everyone else trying to keep my nose above water.” — Weldon Bradshaw
Back
If you know Weiser and appreciate his intellect and wit, this revelation might surprise you. It’s true, though, and he shares his story freely and candidly, not as a cautionary tale but as a reminder that young folks are works in progress and that the best education often comes not just in the halls of ivy but from the school of hard knocks.
Boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center was his wake-up call. “It was a real shock,” he said. “You’re 17 years old, and you’ve got people yelling in your face and calling you nasty names you never heard before.
“It was the first time I’d been in an environment where there was no lapse of time between failing to do something and something bad happening to you.
“Childhood was over. There was no confusion about that.”
Months later while serving on the destroyer tender U.S.S. Tidewater, Weiser met Lt.Cmdr. Art Emde, the ship’s chaplain and librarian. His new friend recommended books, mainly biographies and historical novels. For the first time in his life, Weiser began to read voraciously and engage in intellectual conversations. A college education, never a consideration before, became his dream.
When his three-year hitch ended, he enrolled in Bowling Green State University in Ohio on the G.I. Bill and in 1970 graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in history and a minor in political science.
“My parents were absolutely dumbfounded,” he recalled with a chuckle. “People who knew me were stupefied. I was stupefied, frankly.”
He remained at BGSU, earned an M.A. in American history, then headed for William & Mary where he completed three years of Ph.D. work in history with a focus on the Colonial period. His goal was to teach in college, he passed his doctoral exams, but, realizing that the market for history professors was saturated, he moved on to Cheshire Academy in Connecticut before he finished his dissertation.
In the summer of 1982, he arrived on North Mooreland Road.
“When I was 16, if somebody had told me I’d end up teaching at a well-thought-of private school, I’d have concluded they were nuts,” he said. “You never know where life will take you.
During his tenure at Collegiate, he’s taught advanced placement U.S. history, government, and a host of electives including the highly popular “America in the ‘60s.” This year, he’s a member of a team teaching the Senior Seminar, an interdisciplinary course combining government, economics, and ethics.
He’s coached Cub and JV football, basketball, and baseball.
He’s shared his wealth of knowledge of and opinions on an array of issues from current affairs to philosophy to literature to sports, especially Mid-American Conference football. Unassuming and understated, he’s contributed his wisdom to numerous faculty committees and meetings and is considered by many to be a voice of reason.
Most important, he’s challenged, inspired, mentored, and commanded the respect of hundreds of students who’ve walked through his classroom door and still ask about him years later.
So what is it about teaching that excites you after all these years? I inquired.
“Well,” he said, “originally the joy was the intellectual exercise. Over the years it truly became getting to know the kids, working with them, and interacting with them day-to-day. Students here are self-motivated and disciplined. Most places aren’t like this.”
Did your own high school experience give you a certain empathy for the student who struggles? I continued.
“Definitely,” he replied. “I’ve learned not to be terribly judgmental or critical. Over the years, I’ve known kids I thought were lacking in talent and ability, only to find out later that they were incredible successes, especially in the business world.”
Any way you cut it, I said, you’re a huge success story.
“I don’t regard myself as anything other than a teacher,” he responded in typical Neil Weiser fashion. “Nobody realizes more than I do that people think more of me than I deserve. I’m not as smart or accomplished as they think I am. I’m just like everyone else trying to keep my nose above water.” — Weldon Bradshaw
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