Carew leads education workshop

TEMPLE CITY, Calif. -- Hall of Famer Rod Carew felt right at home Wednesday morning speaking to a group of Temple City High School teachers as part of a traveling education workshop put on by the Hall of Fame, right down to receiving a school hat with a "TC" logo much like his old Minnesota Twins cap as a gift. Carew told the enthralled group of Southern California educators the story of his life and career, from growing up in Panama, to not making his high school team, to being discovered by a Twins scout on a sandlot field in New York, to becoming an 18-time All-Star elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Because of his life journey, he often tells kids not to let anybody tell them they can't do something, because anything can happen in life. "It's OK to dream, because dreams do come true," said Carew, whose career proves that point. "No matter what walk of life you take." Carew was asked to speak at the workshop to provide a real-life example of how baseball and education intersect, said Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson. The Hall has brought in a local Hall of Famer for each of its five education workshops, with Wednesday being the final one put on from a $250,000 grant from AT&T. Harmon Killebrew, Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins and Tony Perez spoke at the previous engagements. "Everybody has a different story but a similar story, that the value of education is imperative," Idelson said. Added Carew, "I think that whenever we can step in and get involved in things like these to help others, I think that we should take advantage of it." After Carew took some questions from the teachers -- ranging from what's wrong with Dodgers outfielder Andruw Jones to Carew's position on being a role model for kids -- three educators from the Hall of Fame held break out sessions on three topics taught by the Hall: American history, women's history and civil rights. "It's incredibly important because it makes it more real," Idelson said. "It brings it to life, and it's a real-life example of the intersection between baseball and education." The Hall's entire curriculum is online, which makes it useful to students too far away to visit Cooperstown, N.Y. The Hall also offers point-to-point video conferencing in which a teacher in Cooperstown instructs students from across the country. The instructors from the Hall of Fame demonstrated how these modules work and gave the teachers a sample lesson that the educators could use in their own classrooms. "The proof of it is the demand for the program. Kids relate very well to it," Idelson said. "It's using a practical application to get them thinking about other topics, so we believe in the program, it's been well received. More importantly, the teachers believe in it and want to use it as a tool for teaching kids." Herm Card, an instructor for the Hall of Fame who taught English for over 30 years, showed educators how to teach students about the Jim Crow laws and other such issues dealing with segregation while asking them questions they would pose to their own students. The curriculum -- which Card described as "education within a setting of baseball" -- brought the topics to life. One slide showed a picture of a drinking fountain with water coming from the same pipe but with a much nicer spout for white players than colored players. This led to a discussion on the differing accommodations for black and white players during road trips during this country's segregation era. The importance of the curriculum was driven home by what Carew had to say, a talk Card called one of the best he's seen because Carew means what he says. "After you're done with your career, you have to have something to fall back on," Carew said. "If you don't have a good education, where do you go? Get lost in the crowd. This game just goes with you so long, it doesn't go forever. You get hurt, you're in trouble.

"So if you have an education, you have a chance to still make something of your life."

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