The Swag Rag

Interview with Steve

By Schuyler Phillips

            It’s really hard to explain BHS to someone who doesn’t go here.  When I’m asked, I usually reply, “The kids are great and the teachers are amazing.”  It’s true.  When I think of MDI, or GSA, or John Baptist, it’s hard to imagine that they have teachers and staff like ours.  I’m not even sure that they do.  Our teachers are some of the coolest and most caring in the state.  I’m sure of that. 

So when I’m asked, “What makes Bucksport High, Bucksport High?” a number of things or people pop into my mind.  Of course, there’s Clout, who should really be a history teacher because he’s seen first hand everything in the history books.  Or Sank, the retired Vietnam veteran, who could talk about history, the government, or sports like no one else.  There are several others whom I can name, but there’s one person that stands out: Steve Leonard.  It’s hard to describe Steve to someone who doesn’t go here, so I thought I’d write about his story.  Every kid who goes here knows Steve, but they don’t know Steve story.  So, here it is.

            Steve Leonard was born March 15, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York.  It was right in the middle of city, and there was always something happening.  “It was during the 60’s,” Steve said, “and there would be kids everywhere.  They’d be out in the street playing games, and running around.  There were also gangs on every block.”  These weren’t the gangs that we hear about in the news, or in movies.  These weren’t the gangs that would be doing drive by’s, and stuff like that.  They were gangs made up by the kids in the neighborhoods, and the kids on each block made up there own gangs, and groups.  “It was a lot of fun,” Steve remembers.  Most of the people who lived there were poor.  His dad died when he was young, and his mom had to raise him, his two brothers, and a sister.  They went to St. Augustine’s Catholic school.  His mom was very religious, and went to church every Sunday.  “Although we weren’t that religious,” Steve says, talking about him and his siblings, “we were hell-raisers.  She prayed for us a lot,” he laughed.   

            Steve went through grammar school, high school, and a vocational school on Staten Island, for machinery.  “I drank a lot of beer, and smoked a lot of pot, but I did alright in school anyway.”  He graduated in 1973 and he got a job right away at International Long Shoreman Association, and worked there for 22 years.  Then he left, and moved up to Maine Then his family suffered tragedy.  “I found one of my brothers dead one day, and the next day, my mom passed away.  Then after that, my brother and sister got in an accident.  After that my life went to hell.” 

He came up to Maine, and he was alone, didn’t know anyone, and he started drinking a lot   He got a job in the Bucksport school department, but then he lost control of his drinking.  He went to rehab in January of 1999, and stayed for a month.  But he completely turned his life around.  He’s been clean sober ever since, for 14 years.  Now, he spends his free time at home with his wife, and he loves riding his motorcycle.  He also goes to some of the prisons in Maine and talks to the inmates about drinking and doing drugs, and just telling his story to them.  “From then on, it’s up to luck, and it’s up to them.”  

“I guess I just happened to get lucky when everyone else around me went to jail around me,” Steve said.  “I feel really blessed to work at BHS.”  Steve loves his job here, and he has a lot of fun.  He told me that he used to have nice things and a lot of money in that old life.  But then, it was all taken away in a flash.  “You really find what’s important to you once you lose everything.”  He also told me something that everyone sees here in this school.  He said, “I just try to do good everyday.  In all the years I’ve worked here, I’ve never had a day where I didn’t want to wake up in the morning.  I’ve never just taken a day off, unless I was really sick, or my wife was sick.  I’ve never wanted to just not wake up.” 

Another thing Steve told really hit me.  He said, “I love being able to wake up and say, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, or illegal yesterday, no one’s out to get me, no one’s out to arrest me.  It’s a great feeling.  I know when I wake up everyday that I’ve done nothing to be sorry about.”  That really hit me, because for me personally, I never think about that when I go to bed at night, or when I wake up.  It’s almost like just another day.  Even if I did do that in the morning, I’m not sure I’d be able to say it anyway, even if I did remember. 

After I asked about where he grew up, and after he told me his story, I had 7 questions for him to answer.

1.      What is the best part of your job?  “Hanging out with the kids, and watching what goes on.  I love sitting in the cafeteria, and watching the kids.  There are 50 different things going on, or 50 different stories, or 50 different soap operas, all at once.  There is always someone doing something ridiculous.”

2.      What are some of your favorite memories from working at BHS?  “One of my fondest memories would be the year that the yearbook was dedicated to me.  And then, the saddest memory was when the wrestling team was gone to a tournament and they got news that Ryan Detour had died.  That was the saddest thing I’ve experienced working here.”

3.      If you could have one wish, what would it be?  “To continue to work at BHS until I retire.  I really don’t know what I want.  There’s nothing I really need.”

4.      Who did you look up to when you were younger?  “All the wrong people

5.      What’s one of your favorite movies?  “They Died with Their Boots On.  It was a movie about Gen. Custer.

6.      If you could give a piece of advice to anyone, what would it be?  “Do your best in school.  Hang out with the winners.”

7.      What advice would you give to this years graduating class?  “Don’t do what I did, do what I do.  Always do what’s right.”

          I honestly can't picture Bucksport High School without Steve whistling through the halls.  He's probably the nicest guy on Earth, and he works at our school because he loves the kids that go here.  He told me during the interview he feels like he's cheating the school out of money.  He accepts the paycheck because he has to make a living, but he loves this job and the kids here so much.  Steve has gone through a lot, to say the least, and he came out of it, turned his life around and now, he try's to do good everyday.  Of all the people who could be interviewed, to hear their story, and what they think, I think Steve is the most deserving of this.