Alliance community members gathered together at the fountain in the Alliance City Park last Wednesday to share fond memories of Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Walz’s time spent teaching and coaching in Alliance in the 1990s.
The event kicked off with a welcome from Becky Potmesil, who gave an overview of Walz’s time teaching in Alliance.
“We gather today just to say congratulations to him for making it to the precipice of the second highest office in our United States, and to bask a little bit in his glory,” said Potmesil. “He’s been recognized as a great teacher, a great person, an effective legislator, and a great patriot, and now, the next possible Vice President of the United States.”
Kevin Wilkinson, former Special Education Director and Business Manager at Alliance Public Schools, served as the emcee for the event. He shared his personal experience working with Walz, noting his dedication to teaching all students.
“Over the years, I got to hear about his time in the Guards, and his time teaching up at Pine Ridge, and also his adventures in China,” Wilkinson said. It was very obvious, here was a young man who was extremely wise to the world. He just hd so much wisdom for his age. It was amazing to me. One thing that particularly endeared him to me, as a Special Education Director, responsible for the education of all the students with some sort of learning disabilities, of course in his class, you know, he had required courses, and teachers with required courses know they’re going to have students with disabilities in their class, and he would come and ask me specific questions about specific students, about how he could improve the learning experience for those kids. This was kind of a big deal to me.
“Other staff members want to know what the Special Ed office is going to do to serve the special needs student in their classroom,” said Wilkinson. “He never did that. He wanted to know how he could do it on his own. The supports that he wanted from us were to give him the skills to do it himself. That really impressed me about him.”
Next, Jenny Lanik told those gathered a handful of stories about having Walz as a teacher, and how she became inspired to become a teacher by family members and teachers, including Walz. She said that all students felt accepted in Walz’s classroom.
“Throughout my educational journey, he was my first educator who taught me how to think, not what to think,” said Lanik.
She said that in his classroom, students never knew where Walz would stand on various issues, noting that he served to help students form their own opinions. Lanik explained that Walz was also dedicated to helping students form lasting, positive memories, such as the time Walz let Lanik’s boyfriend at the time borrow his car for Homecoming.
“I just want to say thank you to Mr. Walz for not only valuing our education, but believing in your students and making memories for them,” said Lanik.
Next, Ann Trulinger, with the Nebraska Democratic Party, spoke about her meeting with Walz during a dinner last September, noting that they discussed teaching, commending him for signing a bill as Governor of Minnesota to allow for free school breakfasts and lunches so that children would not go hungry. She encouraged everyone to make a plan to vote in the upcoming general election.
Patricia Jones spoke about Walz’s political career, explaining the excitement as the nation began learning more about him. She also spoke about Tim’s wife, Gwen, who also taught at Alliance Public Schools.
“We really enjoyed Gwen, she became, very much, a part of our lives,” said Jones. “She was a choir director at our church, and she would come over to our house and sing songs with the kids and play the piano with them, and they would talk about books they were reading, and just have a grand time there.”
Jones said that Gwen was an incredible speech coach, noting that the team was very successful.
Earl Jones spoke next, sharing a story from a darker chapter in Tim’s life: when he was arrested for driving while intoxicated, noting that Tim’s response speaks about his character. He said that Tim’s first stop back in Alliance was to the administration building to offer his resignation.
“He was sure that he had so let down the people, no excuses, no nothing, just, ‘You know what? I screwed up big and it’s not a good example for the kids,’ and he offered his resignation immediately,” said Jones. “Of course, fortunately, it wasn’t accepted, and they were kind of surprised because no one had ever done that before. I mean, not that he was the first teacher to make a mistake, but he was the first one to say, ‘You know what? This is serious, and I need to not be here.’”
Jones noted that this took place outside of football season, though he was, at the time, assisting with off-season conditioning. Jones explained that Tim apologized to the students and used it as an example of how easy it is to make poor decisions. To atone, Jones said, Tim ran all of the conditioning drills with the students.
Throughout the event, several letters written by those who could not be in attendance, were shared. The event closed with comments from Rose Pancost, who was a neighbor to Tim and Gwen. She shared many fond memories, about how they would come over and spend time with their children, introducing them to fun times.
“I knew that one day Tim would one day be a wonderful dad, and Gwen a nurturing mother, which I believe has happened,” said Pancost. “It was very sad to see our fondest neighbors move, but we knew it was necessary for their development and expansion.
I’m so very glad that they are part of our family history, and best of luck to the Walz family in their endeavors,” Pancost said.
Before the celebration came to a close, those gathered were invited to sign a banner that read, “Congratulations Coach Walz,” that was going to be sent to him. Later that night, Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for the vice presidency.
