The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

> Humor, respect, dignity James Hitrst says three important 'words' have guided his 34- year teaching career. Humor. Respect. Dignity. "I try and instill humor in my teaching and with my rapport with everyone," said Hurst who's retiring later this month. "I respect all students and, for the most part, I get it back so that it's pretty rare where I have been treated poorly by students." Dignity has also been important. "I also considered teaching to be an important profession. Even in times of stress and political upheaval, I have attempted to con- duct my own affairs in a dignified fashion and I expected the same from children." Hurst said a fourth word can also be added to his teaching prowess -- sports. "Sports have also been of utmost importance in my teaching career. I've coached and promoted the good values in sport." The Olympics were especially an important time for Hurst in his classroom, as he incorporat- ed the games and their "ideals" into his various subjects. Hurst, 52, said he's enjoyed his teaching career, especially the day-to-day personal contact with students. The biggest thing he takes into retirement from his career is the feeling "that I was able to have a positive impact on the students I taught." The Wellington resident graduated from Belleville Collegiate Institute in 1963 and a year later obtained a teacher's certificate from Peterborough Teachers' College. Because he was only 18 years old "and not yet ready for the real world," Hurst decided to attend university and supply teach only. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's in 1967 and started teaching full-time shortly afterwards. After one-year stints in Niagara Falls and Ottawa, he joined the former Hastings County Board of Education in 1969. He's taught mainly Grades 5 and 6 at King George, Park Dale, Sir John A. Mac- donald (from 1972-90) and at Prince of Wales for the past eight years. Hurst has many interests to keep him busy in retirement, includ- ing his wife, Joanne, and three children. He's an avid sportscard collector (he has more than two million cards) and writes columns on the subject for the Canadian Sports- card Collector, Picton Gazette and Napanee Beaver newspapers. He referees football both in the minor leagues and fall high school football program. He's an announcer, scorekeeper and vice-president of the Wellington Dukes, avid Belleville Bulls fan and team historian and secretary of the Belleville Club. "I will miss the kids and the staff but it's time to move on to other things," said Hurst. James Hurst <