CLARKSVILLE — He would have gotten a few glazed doughnuts from Williams Bakery if they wouldn’t have suffered from the heat, but on his trip to his old grade school, Greg Zoeller still got a warm welcome of Schimpff’s red hots and cards from each class.
On part of his visit to Southern Indiana on Thursday, Zoeller, Indiana’s attorney general, dropped in at St. Anthony of Padua School in Clarksville, where he attended in the 1960s. Making his way though classrooms and hallways, he said while much was different, it still felt like home.
“Modern schools are kind of different than what I remember in grade school, but the excitement of kids learning, I think that reminds me of my time here,” Zoeller said. “Everyone was excited about school; I know that’s not always the case, but I didn’t dread going in every day. That part of it looks the same, but the building is much improved.”
He stopped at the school and at the National Guard Armory in New Albany. Between stopping into classrooms and singing the Bears’ fight song with fifth-graders, Zoeller said his visit goes back to the philosophy of representing the whole state, although his office is in the state’s capital city.
“I’ve always recognized the fact that it’s a big state and there are people from all over the 92 counties,” Zoeller said. “Too often, I think the people from Indianapolis just focus on Indianapolis. I think the people in this part of the state and particularly in the northwest, they often feel like they’re disconnected from the rest of the state.”
But he made an impression on some of the students he talked to, as well.
Claire Reyes, a seventh-grader at the school, said it’s inspiring to know a state leader calls St. Anthony his alma mater.
“It makes me feel happy because our school has a graduate that accomplished something; he’s successful,” Reyes said. “I guess we can all aim to be like that.”
Principal Sheila Noon said she dug around school records to find a photo of Zoeller when he attended. All she found was an original report card, along with his permanent record, which she said she didn’t peruse.
His visit, she said, was something she hoped would give students the idea that they could do anything. “It was one of us, it was a St. Anthony’s Bear that can accomplish anything,” Noon said. “If he could do it, these children have something that they can aim for and look forward to doing with their own lives.”
A news release from Zoeller’s office stated he visited the armory with state Sen. Ron Grooms, R-Jeffersonville, to talk about the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
In the release, Zoeller said the act gives troops the ability to postpone or suspend obligations — such as debt collections and foreclosures — that they shouldn’t have to spend so much time thinking about.
“When Hoosier military members are in the line of duty, they should not have to worry about these complicated, time-consuming and often expensive obligations that could have life-altering consequences,” Zoeller said. “Expanding the SCRA at the state level will allow our servicemen and women to devote their full attention to military duties and relieve stress on the family members back home.”
Zoeller said St. Anthony’s gave him a foundation for his career, and he hopes it gives today’s students the same kind of values he tries to embody. “I was telling some of the classes that I think I learned at a little Catholic grade school that serving others was everyone’s mission in life, so it’s probably where I started thinking about public service,” Zoeller said. “I do think some of the upbringing in this little Catholic school helped frame my way of thinking on what’s a life that I might want to live.”
