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One instructor couldn't stay away from SIUC.
Kinesiology faculty member Tony Calabrese came to the university as a student in 1960. After a successful gymnastics career at SIUC in which his team won a national championship and went undefeated, he undertook a 30-year stint teaching physical education at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview before finding his way back to the region in 1993.
"I really like southern Illinois," he said. "When it came time to retire I couldn't find a better place to retire than southern Illinois."
The goal-driven 65-year-old opened a bed and breakfast, antique store and blacksmithing shop upon returning to the area. Welding was only one hobby he has picked up in retirement, and he said he tries to start something new every five years.
"That way you never get bored because you have to start at square one," Calabrese said.
Calabrese has received many awards for his time as a teacher and high school coach for sports such as volleyball and gymnastics. Among his many awards are the Illinois and Midwest Physical Education Teacher of the Year.
Calabrese also said he was in the top 100 chosen out of 25,000 to go into space with the Teacher in Space Project in the early 1980s.
The Teacher in Space Project began in the early 1980s and was designed by NASA to send a teacher into outer space. Christa McAuliffe was selected in 1984 and boarded the space shuttle Challenger. The shuttle exploded in 1986 and the project was abandoned.
"I really wanted to go up in space, but when that rocket exploded I figured, 'Boy maybe it was good that I didn't go any further,'" he said.
Calabrese returned to the university in 2001, and found his office in Davies Gymnasium, a place he remembered well from his gymnast days in the 1960s.
He said he could still feel the energy in the building that was there 40 years ago and makes sure his students appreciate its rich history.
"I tell all my kids that I'm teaching, 'You better bow when you come into this gymnasium,'" he said.
Jake Guardalabene, who graduated from SIUC last December with a major in physical education and health, has known Calabrese for about four years.
Guardalabene said the most important thing he picked up from the energy-filled instructor was goal setting. He said Calabrese taught him to set goals every week and month.
"When I am 65 years old I hope that I have half the energy that that guy has," he said.
Kyle Mitchell, a senior studying kinesiology from Waterman, said the passion for teaching that Calabrese brings to the classroom has been inspirational. Calabrese incorporates life lessons into his teaching, Mitchell said, and is always full of life.
"He's definitely a role model for what he's trying to teach," he said.
Calabrese said he would continue teaching at the university until he is no longer needed.
Having gone full circle, he said he was grateful to be back at SIUC.
"This is like a fairy tale for me and my wife," he said. "I figured for both us we died and went to heaven in southern Illinois."
ryan_rendleman@dailyegyptian.com 536-3311 ext. 268
