Whited Elementary's beloved Mr. Ord feted in style

The dress code at one Santa Rosa grade school on Friday allowed for - no, actively encouraged - ugly neckties, red high-top sneakers and mustaches.

It was Mr. Ord Day at Rincon Valley’s Whited Elementary.

Guest of honor Eric Ord, a sartorially conflicted but clearly adored career kindergarten teacher, stood before the hundreds of students and colleagues who’d dressed like him and willed himself not to cry.

After 37 years in classrooms, most of them occupied by 5-year-olds fortunate to have the gently demanding teacher construct their foundation in education, Ord, at nearly 62, is about to retire.

His wife, Jennifer, was in the crowd Friday when the 460 students of Whited School surprised him with a thunderous and affectionate tribute in the cafeteria/gym.

“He really, really loves what he does,” Jennifer Ord said. Over the course of more than three decades, she added, “I have never once heard him complain about his job.”

Friday’s surprise honored a man who dresses each day in khakis, a utilitarian collared shirt, one of his perhaps 1,000 vintage ties, a tie clip that might have cost a buck at a garage sale and either red or black Converse high-tops. On Friday, Ord’s crimson shoes clashed nicely with a yellow-brown tie bearing a buckin’ bronco.

Every year, Ord has introduced his students to music via instruction in the basics of the ukelele. Playfully yet firmly, he has inspired them to a high level of thinking and conduct.

During a daily exercise that involves identifying errors or inconsistencies in text that Ord writes on a white pad, youngsters raise a hand and, upon being called on, state, “Mr. Ord, I would like to refer to … ,” and then they describe the necessary correction.

“A lot of kids don’t get a male role model at that young age,” noted Casey D’Angelo, superintendent of the Rincon Valley Union School District. Beyond being a rare man who chose to dedicate nearly his entire career to teaching kindergarten, D’Angelo said Ord “is definitely a gentle man.”

Retired Whited principal Tom Castagnola dressed up and came back to the school for Friday’s feting of Ord.

“What amazes me is the generations of kids he has touched,” Castagnola said.

“He’s a living legend,” Castagnola said. “He’s in the top 1 percent of all the teachers I’ve known, for sure.”

Remarked Bob Stanley, the retired educator and administrator who hired Ord onto the faculty of Whited Elementary, “He’s a got a style that’s unique to Eric. It’s probably not capable of being copied.”

Ord grew up in San Rafael and intended to become an insurance broker, the same as his dad.

“Being the only son, I was going to follow in his footsteps,” Ord said following Friday afternoon’s surprise assembly.

Finding as a college student that he wasn’t remotely cut out for business, he followed his heart to a major in education. He earned a teaching credential at Sonoma State University, then taught for seven years in South Lake Tahoe.

Since hiring on at Whited three decades ago, Ord has taught mostly kindergarten, giving little ones their start in school. “Being the foundation is kind of good,” he said.

His announcement that he’s come to sense it’s time to retire has many students, former students, parents and colleagues feeling brokenhearted.

As Ord worked with his students on the find-the-errors exercise Friday afternoon, parent and classroom volunteer Kristina Shearer said softly that it’s been a gift for both of her boys, Carson, who’s now 13, and 5-year-old Carter, to have started out in school with Ord.

“I come in on Fridays for an hour, just to feel the energy,” she said.

Across the room, one of the kids sitting still on the floor for the editing exercise raised his hand. Richi Hernandez had something other than spelling, punctuation or style to refer to.

“Mr. Ord,” the budding scholar said, “I’m going to miss you when I go to first grade.”

Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CJSPD.