Aces of Trades: Crabtree followed the right path to being an educator
CHILLICOTHE – He’s a long-time educator – and a life-long learner.
“In school, I was interested in playing baseball and basketball,” recalled Bob Crabtree. “I’m not sure I dreamed of being an educator, but it may have been destined. My grandfather was an educator, my father was an educator, my mother graduated in 1972 from Ohio University as an educator, and three of my four siblings received college degrees in education.”
Crabtree, in fact, retired in 2008 after decades as an educator with Chillicothe City Schools, including 19 years as a middle school principal.
Today, he’s the curriculum supervisor with the Ross-Pike Educational Service District, which means, among other things, he provides support to teachers and administrators in the schools of Pike and Ross Counties.
“I believe all educators,” he said, “could follow a mantra I’ve borrowed from the mentor training I currently provide. It says, ‘How can I be a better educator tomorrow than I was today?’ I believe this continuous search fits within another desire expressed by most educators. The desire is to help students become ‘lifelong learners.’”
Crabtree, 72, was born in Lancaster and moved to Chillicothe as a youngster, graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1968, Ohio University in 1972 with a degree in science education, then earned a master’s in educational administration from Xavier University in 1983.
“I was offered an opportunity in senior year at Ohio University,” he remembered, “to become a graduate assistant in exercise physiology, which was a great interest at the time. After teaching for three years, I accepted a position with the Ashland Chemical company as a sales representative in Southern Indiana. After one year with Ashland, I returned to Chillicothe as a teacher.”
“My interest in basketball,” he noted, “permitted me to serve as a basketball assistant in the Chillicothe High School basketball program for five years. And my interest in baseball permitted me to coach the 757 American Legion baseball program for approximately five years.”
“Bob is the epitome of a lifelong learner,” assessed Tom Kitchen, the assistant superintendent of Ross-Pike ESD. “He’s constantly seeking ways to further himself to ultimately benefit the districts he works with.”
“Bob’s starting his 50th year in education,” Kitchen added. “He doesn’t like the attention, but he’s vital to the services we provide to our districts.”
“I’m positive the path I’ve followed has been the right one for me,” Crabtree responded, “I’ve stated many times in the past and can still say it today, ‘I’ve never had a day that I didn’t want to go to work.’”
For more information about the Ross-Pike Educational Service District, log on www.rpesd.org.
About the Series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com or 740-349-1110.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Aces of Trades: Crabtree followed the right path to being an educator
