A Little Story about Stan Cody

Excerpted from Teaching Out of the Box by Stan Cody

Stan Cody (better known as “Zeke”) grew up in the wonderful little prairie farming town of Nickerson in South Central Kansas. Stan’s dad, Walt, was a driller in the oilfields who had quit school in the eighth grade to work and help his family. Stan’s mother, Mildred Clark Cody, kept busy with church work and Girl Scouts, and his sister, Melba Cody Frank, excelled in school and enjoyed membership in the National Honor Society.

Not the studious type, Zeke played sports and chased girls. He likes to say that, at least, he was successful in playing his favorite game of football.

Nickerson and its people were largely responsible, along with his family, for Stan’s attitudes and his desire to excel. The population never reached more than 1,172, but the town was filled with loving, down-to-earth folk who were always willing to lend a hand. In the summer season when wheat was being harvested in the fields, people attended church in blue jeans and work clothes. If a farmer was ill or could not work, neighboring farmers brought their combines, trucks, sons and yes, even their daughters, to get the work done. Many times, these neighborly folk lent their hands to help another even before they harvested their own wheat. They even furnished their own gasoline. One special person, Brad Berridge, owner of the local IGA grocery store, furnished all the free sandwiches and soft drinks these thoughtful, caring people needed.

Teachers at Nickerson’s school went out of their way to help their students and for that, Zeke Cody will always be grateful. He was a student who always had a smile on his face and a cheerful, “Hi, How Ya Doin?” He made “just good enough” grades so he could participate in athletics. Those Cs and D-pluses just weren’t cutting it, and he knew it. (Can you find Zeke/Stan in the Nickerson eighth grade picture at left? See the answer below.)

Zeke never read a complete book until he became a senior in high school. Childhood illness and other factors delayed his learning. The first book Zeke read from cover to cover was Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. He still owns that book. As he grew and learned, thanks to the influence of caring, mentoring teachers, Zeke found his perfect occupation – being a teacher himself – and went on to earn many honors, including six Teacher of the Year awards.

If you asked Zeke today how he survived school without reading, he’d wrinkle up his nose, think about it briefly, and then say, “I guess I survived because I was a good listener, I never missed class and I was as creative as anyone could possibly be in order to remember things.”

Upon entering Hutchinson Junior College, where he played two years of football, Zeke discovered that studying wasn’t as tough as he’d thought it would be. And, of course, he’d read How to Win Friends and Influence People and a few more books. Having discovered his reading ability, he no longer resisted reading or studying.

Zeke graduated with an Associate of Arts degree and then transitioned to George Williams College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Psychology. This YMCA Social Work School in Chicago offered him the opportunity to learn to understand people, games, human relations, society, psychology, party planning, love and creativity. In fact, he discovered how creative he really was. Zeke’s time at George Williams College helped build a unique foundation for teaching in the years ahead.

After service as an officer in the U.S. Navy, the Urban Teachers Corp at UCLA accepted Zeke for graduate work. This led to his career as a successful, much honored and respected teacher. His teaching career paralled the wonderful years of raising a fine family: Christy, Skipp, Scott and Steve, who all benefited from Zeke’s out-of-the-box teaching memorics.

The kind of creativity shared in Teaching Out of the Box is accessible to all of us. Zeke invites you to send your comments about the book, as well as your ideas, school memories, mnemonics and memory tools and questions to him. Material you submit is subject to publication on Stan Cody’s website and is his future books. If your material is published, proper credit will be given to you. Please use our comment/inquiry form to send your idea.

Answer: Stan/Zeke is standing second from the right in the top row in this eighth grade picture from Nickerson school, Nickerson, Kansas.