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Retired Elkhart teacher urges adults to put students first in Elkhart Community Schools
Summary
Gary McAllister, a longtime Elkhart educator and current homebound instructor, used public comment to urge that every school decision center on student learning and well-being, offering three practical rules for teachers and adults who work with students.
Gary McAllister, a retired teacher who now provides homebound instruction, told meeting attendees that every decision in Elkhart Community Schools should put students first, and offered three guiding principles for classroom adults.
McAllister said he grew up in the district and spent most of his working life there. “I started school in Elkhart in 1960,” he said, adding that he still helps out with school activities in 2025. He described a career path that included working as a night custodian at Oslo School and later teaching for “30, 40 years.”
The core of McAllister’s public comment was practical advice for teachers and school staff. “Every kid who enters your classroom, you have to ask yourself, are they smarter going out than they were coming in?” he said. He added that adults must make “every kid in your classroom feel like they’re the most important kid in the classroom,” and that “every kid can learn.”
McAllister also emphasized the role of families and local participation in schools. He described his personal ties to the district—his wife helps with elementary athletics and his daughter serves as an athletic director—and said that approach shaped his view that adults must act in students’ best interests.
No formal action or votes were recorded in connection with McAllister’s remarks.
McAllister’s comments came during the public-comment portion of the meeting and reflected his decades-long involvement with local schools, from Mary Beck and Roosevelt to Weston and Oslo School.
