CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A local school library was dedicated to a teacher who served for more than five decades in Carbondale.
The Carbondale School District 95 dedicated the library at the Carbondale Middle School, with a ribbon cutting, to long-time teacher and administrator John Major on Thursday night.
Major has taught thousands of students over the course of 53 years in his education career.
The Carbondale School District 95 dedicated the library at the Carbondale Middle School, with a ribbon cutting, to long-time teacher and administrator John Major.
Superintendent Janice Pavelonis, Carbondale Mayor Carolin Harvey, dozens of family, friends, former students and colleagues of Major were in attendance at the dedication event.
The library is now officially known as the "John Major Learning Center."
"We're here for the kids," John Major said. "Sometimes that is lost in a lot of the conversation. That's the most important thing there is in this school district, the kids.
Major is known for his jokes and insightful ways of teaching. His impact on the district and the students reaches far.
"When they name a library after you and put your picture up there, you're done," John Major chuckled. "But, I'm ready. I've done my part."
Harvey even issued a proclamation and declared July 13th as "John Major Day."
"Whereas John Major has dedicated his career and lifetime of serving Carbondale Elementary School District 95 and the Carbondale community, positively impacting the educational experience of thousands of students and hundreds of employees," Harvey read aloud as part of the proclamation.
"He has the guts to make tough decisions; to serve all kids better," Pavelonis said. "He's an advocate for children, for leaders, for families, for anyone in our school community - as long as, it's about helping kids. All of this means that when John says, you know what you're talking about, people listen, things get done and transformation occurs."
"It's that strength of family, that community that I think that my dad, Mr. Major, has brought into all of the kids and all of the communities that he has served now for 53 years," John Major Jr. said. "I'm just so happy that an event like this, everyone else in the community has seen what I've seen and known my whole life."
"He's telling everybody that through hard work, dedication and being a good person, you can make a super positive impact on the community that will last an eternity," Gray Landt said.
A plaque was also unveiled in Major's honor.
