A few weeks back, I was invited by Dwight Lundeen to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes session. Dwight asked me to give a little demonstration using my artistic talent to his group of a dozen-or-so high schoolers.

 

Dwight told me he planned to use Mount Rushmore in an exercise to give the kids a chance to reflect on whose faces they would put on the monument who have made an impact on their lives. I was to choose four myself and explain who they are and why they have influenced me.

 

As Dwight began to introduce his lesson at the FCA session that morning, I was tasked to stand at the whiteboard and start drawing the faces of the four people on the shrine. 

 

The four people who I put in the drawing who have inspired me were my dad, Mr. Bobgan (teacher), my mom and  Jesus Christ.

 

Though I went into detail how each one of those individuals became role models for me, the one person I want to focus on for this column was my high school art teacher, Mr. Bobgan.

 

When I introduced Mr. Bobgan to the FCA students, I told them I didn’t even know Mr. Bobgan’s first name (at the time) because I only knew him for about six months or so — but his influence is something I will carry with me my entire life.

 

As a high school student back in the late 70’s, I had the luxury of going to a private Christian school (Fridley Grace, now Totino Grace). I told the FCA kids I wasn’t especially a great student and after my junior year, I was informed by the school I wouldn’t have enough credits to graduate unless I attended summer school.

 

My best friend in my neighborhood found out I could attend Patrick Henry for my senior year and graduate without summer school because they provided more credits in a school year.

 

Surprisingly, my parents accepted the idea of me transfering to another school and just like that, I went from being an Eagle to a Patriot.

 

One of my early art classes I took at Henry featured Mr. Bobgan as the teacher. One day, he had walked past my table and glanced at my notebook that contained all my doodles and drawings. The notebook was like my diary — filled with personal thoughts and ideas I pretty much kept to myself.

 

Mr. Bobgan asked to see the notebook and at first, I thought I was in some sort of trouble. I obliged.

 

He then asked me minutes later if he could hold onto the notebook over the weekend and get it back to me the next week.

 

“Sure,” I said.

 

The following Monday, I had a large group of kids approach me as I neared the school to pat me on the back and gave me congratulatory handshakes. My best friend grabbed me and said, “this is so cool” as he ushered me into the school and up to the third floor. There, right outside Mr. Bobgan’s classroom was an enclosed display case featuring all my drawings Mr. Bobgan had carefully pulled from my notebook and hung on the wall. He even made a placard that said, “Drawings by Billy Morgan.”

 

At first, I was very embarrassed for the attention and I was also feeling a little dread as my “diary” was laid out in a glass case, exposed to the world. Those feelings eventually subsided and it soon turned to pride and accomplishment.

 

I get reminded of this every time I see the Apple Computer animated commercial on TV where a young girl is in her room with her dog, writing her stories — but being unwilling to share them with the rest of the world. Her dog does the unthinkable and slaps open a window where a page of her story escapes into the wind.

 

The girl is desperate to make sure nobody finds it so she proceeds to run after the piece of paper through the city until it lands at the feet of an elderly lady. The facial expression the old lady exhibits after reading the document helped the young girl feel more confident about sharing the rest of her story.

 

The commercial ends by telling the viewers to “share your gifts”. I like that.

 

Getting back to Mr. Bobgan. 

 

He became a big fan of my art and even whispered to me one day that I could “skip all the assignments in class and just sit there and draw” and he would give me an “A”.

 

I felt he was the greatest teacher on the earth!

 

Later during the school year, he asked me where I planned to go to college to continue my artwork. Since I hated school and felt I wasn’t the best student, I said I had no plans.

 

He proceeded to tell me about a great commercial art program at North Hennepin CC. I shrugged and didn’t display any kind of feelings either way. 

But Mr. Bobgan wouldn’t let it go.

 

I watched as he walked over to the telephone (yes, there were telephones in the classrooms back then) and he quietly talked to someone on the other end while the rest of us students did our assignments. Minutes later, he came over and told he had pre-registered me at NHCC for the commercial art program for the upcoming fall year.

 

“All you have to do is go in with a parent, fill out the paperwork, pay for tuition or sign up for financial aid and go on from there,” he said.

 

“Wow, I thought, I guess I’m going to college.”

 

Did I say he was the greatest teacher on earth?

 

Thanks to Mr. Bobgan, I did attend NHCC and graduated with a degree in commercial art. That degree has helped me over the years hold positions of keyliner, art director, lead art director, graphic designer, photographer, writer, director, producer, videographer, editor, caricaturist, artist, painter and screenwriter.

That’s why Mr. Bobgan is on my Mount Rushmore. 

 

And as I left Dwight’s FCA session that day, I hoped and prayed these young, impressionable kids  would experience a teacher/mentor/friend like Mr. Bobgan, who they too would put on their monument.