When Spoon River College Sociology professor Michael Maher was in his third year of teaching, he had a group of students in his Introduction to Cultural Anthropology class that made a profound impact on him. “This cohort of students knew each other, and they took multiple classes with me. As a relatively young and inexperienced teacher, I remember feeling a strong connection to these students who were engaged, interested, funny yet serious, and taking their education seriously.”
2002 SRC graduate Mandy Manock of Canton was one of those students. “Professor Maher was the first adult I can remember who explained the ‘adult’ world to us, and who encouraged us to question and analyze our thoughts, our society, our world.”
At the end of that semester, Maher had the students bring in a variety of items to put in a time capsule that was then buried in the college’s Arboretum. “I wanted to celebrate them, and create an excuse to reunite with them in twenty years.” In 2022, several of those students—including Manock—did return to unearth the capsule with their former professor.
Fast forward to 2024, and Maher is now a seasoned professor who has made it a habit to always have music playing while students are arriving to class. One of those students, Logan Clardy, developed the habit of arriving early for all of his classes in order to enjoy one-on-one conversations with his professors, and Maher was one of those professors. “We instantly bonded while talking about music, but I soon realized his interests and depth of knowledge went far beyond music,” Maher said.
At around the fifth week of the semester, Maher was dumbfounded when Clardy told him that Mandy Manock was his mother. “It felt surreal to have made such a strong and meaningful connection with the son of a former student from 22 years prior, who I had also felt such a strong connection with. By the time Logan took his second class with me, it was evident what a special student he was and what a remarkable son Mandy had raised.”
Manock, who went on to earn a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education and a Masters in Instruction and Technology, has taught 3rd grade at Lincoln Elementary in Canton for the past seven years and plans to earn a second Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. “I was proud that my son decided to begin his collegiate journey at my Alma Mater, and I enjoy having the opportunity to share stories with him about our times at Spoon River College.”
Clardy, who was a member of Phi Theta Kappa and the Speech and Debate team while at SRC, graduated this past May. He will begin at ISU in the fall to major in Audio Production, and he dreams of working as a producer and sound engineer. He said “all the amazing professors” were his favorite thing about SRC.
“While I didn’t enjoy my high school experience, at SRC I was surrounded by kind, supportive, and genuine professors who have invigorated my love for knowledge and instilled a deep sense of self-efficacy in me that I am grateful for. The one-on-one conversations I had with them was often the highlight of my day.”
Maher says he remembers Manock as somewhat shy but insightful and caring, whereas Clardy is gregarious but also insightful and caring. He is also among the most intelligent, thoughtful, engaged, and kind students I’ve taught, regularly introducing information, history, and concepts he learned in other classes to illuminate the discussion in my Racial and Ethnic Relations class. Students like Mandy and Logan make me hopeful that a better future is possible.”
Maher wasn’t the only professor that Manock had an impression on. “I took a song from one of my favorite bands, Dashboard Confessional, to my poetry course. The professor, Doug Okey, liked it so much that he and Communications professor Bob Gorg went to one of their concerts!”