Published: November 17, 2008 10:26 am      

‘Dr. Bill’ remembered

McDaniel Learning Center named for school board member who died of cancer in 2004

By Sean Bailey / Staff Writer

Dr. William C. McDaniel, or “Dr. Bill” as everyone called him, was one of those guys who would do whatever they could to make a boring situation fun.

As a Kiwanis member, Dr. Bill dressed as a box of salt and asked for nickels outside a local business, explaining to passers-by that a nickel’s worth of iodine was enough to treat a child with an iodine deficiency disease.

And then there was the time he dressed as the Grinch to read to classrooms of students in the Laurel County School District.

“I’ll never forget when he was dressed as Dr. Seuss characters to read to students,” Deputy Superintendent Greg E. Smith said. “I’m talking about high school-aged kids ... it was amazing for someone to go in and to be able to relate with those kids on their level, on all different ability levels and academic levels and what have you. But they were all eating it up and loving it.”

Smith told just one of the many stories about McDaniel at a special meeting of the Laurel County Board of Education Sunday afternoon, held to dedicate the McDaniel Learning Center to Dr. Bill.

Throughout the meeting, there were laughs and some tears remembering former board member Dr. William McDaniel, who served on the board from 1996 until his death from cancer in 2004.

The McDaniel Learning Center will help students who have fallen behind in school graduate with a high school diploma. McDaniel Center Director Roger Wright said the center will offer an alternative learning environment for students who are at-risk of dropping out, or are just falling behind due to personal issues.

The center, located on South Laurel’s campus, features computer-assisted learning stations to help students catch-up.

“But it’s not all in front of a computer. We have teachers to help with math and English — all of the core subjects,” Wright said.

The center was the dream of the late Dr. Bill, and board member Ed Jones shared with those gathered for Sunday’s dedication how it all got started.

“Albert (Binder) and I were in the foyer this morning talking about how it all came about,” Jones said with a swift pound to the podium. “That’s how it came about. We were having a disciplinary hearing and we did not have an alternative school for students... and that upset Dr. Bill, and he slammed his hand down on the desk.”

Jones, as did the rest of Sunday’s speakers, talked about McDaniel’s great passion and drive for alternative education.

Laurel County School District Superintendent David Young remembered how McDaniel fought for the creation of the alternative school, even while fighting his own battle with cancer.

“I saw him in this very building advocating for the alternative program, and he could hardly stand at the time,” Young said. “He was standing, and on one side he was literally holding the wall. This building is very fitting that it is part of the first phase.”

Besides praising McDaniel’s deep passion for the school district and the alternative school program, each speaker also told of Dr. Bill’s great sense of humor and his story-telling abilities.

Dr. Bill’s brother, Roger McDaniel, thanked the district for making his brother’s dreams come true on behalf of his brother’s widow Delora and the rest of the McDaniel family. Roger said he wouldn’t try to match his brother’s story-telling ability.

“What would he tell you if he were here? He’d probably tell you a story about him(self),” Roger McDaniel said, “and poke a little fun at himself, and at the end there’d be a teaching point. I’m not going to imitate the master.”

Instead, Roger McDaniel recited a zen koan — a short, traditional Buddhist story meant to spur thought.

“It’s simple. There is a pond. A frog jumped into the pond. Kerplunk!” Roger McDaniel recited.

After a brief silence, the room erupted with laughter.

Roger McDaniel said the koan described his brother’s life. In three different stages of his brother’s life, Roger said William jumped into big ponds — starting with the Marine Corps — and made a difference in each one.

“ ... And then he came back and jumped into the Laurel County pond in terms of community service, the school board, and he jumped in with all his might,” Roger McDaniel said of his brother. “And in all three things he wanted to make a difference, and I believe he did. Having said that, on behalf of Delora and all the McDaniels... thank you Laurel County. “