A Good Friend

Normally I write these blogs for the students but today it is written for the many staff members and friends of Mr. Kent Taylor. Kent was an instructor here at Vantage Career Center for thirty plus years and substitute taught for the last two years since his retirement. Kent passed away on Thursday, November 10th. I feel so fortunate to have worked with Kent and have been able to call him my friend. I can honestly say that Kent was one of the smartest men I have ever met. As many of you know, Kent taught our Electricity program and also taught some adult education electrical programs.

I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Kent about his program but also electronics. When I first started here I remember talking about my ¨ham radio" hobby with Kent. All of a sudden he starts talking about my equipment, radio frequencies, antennas and so many other topics related to amateur radio, that I would have sworn he was a licensed operator. However, that is just how Kent was. He knew so much about so many topics that it absolutely amazed me. Through the years I´ve learned to rely on Kent whenever I had a question about something I was working on at home. I knew he would have the answer for me or be able to come up with it very quickly. We had nine trade and industry programs here when Kent was working and I swear he could have ran everyone of them. Kent worked on cars, painted them, did welding, machining, PLCś (Program Logic Controllers), construction work and in his spare time he enjoyed drag racing, truck pulls and building engines.

Some of the best memories I have of Kent are back in the old building when he shared an office with Mel White, Mike Klutka and Kevin Van Oss. If I happened to stop by their office during lunch, I was guaranteed to have a stimulating conversation with all of them about the latest issue in the news, and as we would say, ¨we would solve the worlds problems¨. Once we got Kent up on his soapbox, there was no stopping him. Kent would get excited about things because he cared so deeply about his community and this area. He wouldn´t let any politician pull the wool over his eyes. Kent knew more about what was going on in the world then the politicians did.

The one thing I know Kent cared more about than most any issue was career tech and the success of his students. Kent had a real passion for career tech and was really ahead of his time when it came to the importance of a career tech education. Kent also cared so much about his students and their ability to get a good job after high school or even go onto college. He pushed the students because he believed in them and knew how much potential they had.

I carry a black notebook around with me so I can write down things I have to do. On the first page of this notebook are some questions I had for Kent the next time I saw him. It was in regards to an Edenpure heater that he has been telling me to get for two years now. I already miss my friend and I know so many others do to. I have mentioned in my blogs before a poem that was called ¨Success¨. A couple of the lines say that ¨...to leave the world a bit better; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived- this is to have succeeded¨. Well, Kent succeeded beyond any measure and he certainly made my world better. Goodbye my friend.