Q&A: Chuck Herber, Lafayette Jeff teacher and pushup champ at 81, ready to retire
‘When people ask how I can do the same thing every day, I think, it’s not the same thing!’ Chuck Herber on the classroom, students over 60 years and a form that kept him ready for any pushup challenge
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Today’s feature comes from BiL contributor Carol Bangert.
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Q&A: CHUCK HERBER, LAFAYETTE JEFF TEACHER AND STILL PUSHUP CHAMP AT 81, READY TO RETIRE
By Carol Bangert / For Based in Lafayette
Six decades after he first walked into a classroom as a teacher, Chuck Herber is retiring – for real this time.
Over the last 10 years or so, rumors have surfaced that Herber, who’s taught college composition, advanced placement and journalism at Lafayette Jefferson High School since 1986, was calling it quits. But until now, those were just stories. At the end of this semester, Herber will close the door to his classroom for the last time and will face a new challenge: Boxing up, distributing and storing 60 years of file folders, books and memories from a storied career.
Based in Lafayette caught up with Herber at the high school last week. The Jeff football team had overtaken the Corral, going through stretches while listening to a coach’s instructions. As we walked to his classroom, Herber nodded his head in their direction and said, “Sometimes I’ll join them and do some pushups.” His finger-tip pushups are legendary, and he holds an undefeated (depending who you talk to) record, taking on unsuspecting students who think they can out muscle him.
Herber’s classroom is lined with motivational phrases, maps, to-do lists, deadline reminders and dummy pages for the next issue of The Booster, the school’s award-winning student newspaper. Bookcases stacked with novels, textbooks, manuals and reference books make it clear that this is a classroom where words and reading, thinking and writing are important. In a conversation that spanned six decades and myriad topics, Herber reflected on his life’s work.
Question: What was it that made you decide that it was time to retire?
Chuck Herber: My wife, Rene, she’s funny. She’s been asking me about retirement for a decade or so now. “Don’t you think it’s time to try something different?” she’d ask. My response was, typically, “I am doing something different. Every day.” Or people would say, “Why don’t you just quit?” And I’d say, “I like what I’m doing!” I still do. When people ask how I can do the same thing every day, I think, it’s not the same thing! It’s never the same.
But I finally ran out of years and excuses. … Now seems about right.
Question: Before we go any further, explain the finger-tip pushup contests. How did that start?
