From the war room to the classroom
By Spree HilliardLake Media
November 7, 2012
Despite living on Military bases and growing up with a
serviceman as a father, Dr. John Keeney never thought he would be a soldier
himself. That was until the 1960s and the United States found itself at war. “I
had not planned on a military career. The country was at war, so I felt an
obligation. Able bodied guys ought to be available, Keeney said.

Before
joining the service, Kenney received a teaching degree and went on to get his
master’s degree following his deployment. “Then I started my teaching career. I
knew in high school that I wanted to be a teacher. I went on to be a high
school History and English teacher. I became the assistant principal and
principal then I began teaching adjunct for different colleges. I entered the
college teaching world and moved my career over to that. I started off teaching
then got into administration,” he said.
His
military background became useful when he began teaching high school students.
He shared the journalism skills he attained with students who found themselves
writing articles.
Having
lived part of history also became useful while teaching history classes. “It
gave me some perspective having lived through something that was historical,”
Keeney said. He found it unique to have actually seen and lived the war and not
just read about it.
Keeney
now is the director of Columbia College Lake of Ozark campus. Columbia College
was one of the first colleges to have a campus on a military base. Today, many
veterans come to Columbia College Lake campus when they return from deployment.
Keeney is able to relate to those students and connect to them in a way that
other professors and administrators can’t even imagine.
Columbia
College staff will soon take part in “Give them 30” training, an online program
that trains employees with how to work with veterans and help them transition
smoothly into civilian life. Keeney may not have made a career out of the
military but used his experiences in his current career regularly.
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