Mr. Geldbach’s Influence
Mr. Larry Geldbach always cared about his students on a personal level and looked out for their best interests. I was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of his compassion.
During my sophomore year, I took Drivers Education and Mr. Geldbach was the instructor. He must have done a great job because at age 37, my mom still tells me I’m a better driver than my two sisters! I’ll never forget him taking us out to the parking lot to demonstrate how to change a tire on his own car. I’m guessing he used student labor versus taking it to a mechanic.
As I recall, it was a big honor in our senior year to be a “student teacher” for a semester. I was so excited that Mr. Gelbach accepted me to assist in his freshman health class. Little did I know that one of my duties included helping teach the reproduction lesson. I’m sure my face was twenty shades of red that day.
The biggest impact he made in my life was helping me get into his alma mater, the University of Missouri-Columbia. Academically, I was not the strongest student to walk the halls of West, but I had big hopes of attending MU. I was disappointed when I was not accepted, but he helped me through the appeal process. He wrote a personal letter highlighting my involvement in various clubs and organizations at school as well as some insight into my personal character. It did the trick and I was accepted on probation for my first semester. I am now a proud MU graduate and can thank Mr. Geldbach for putting in that extra effort to help me.
Even though I have not been a student at Parkway West for 19 years (wow, has it really been that long?) a lot of wonderful memories are still fresh in my mind. It’s great to know that Mr. Geldbach has been at West for 25 years, hopefully creating lasting memories fo many more students.
Lezlie Phillips Doyle
Parkway West Class of 1991
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