Professor
inspired with costumes, quotes
By Dylana Foy
Contributing Writer
Daily Forty-Niner
James Cross, an instructor for the College of Education who was known for getting
his students motivated and involved in classes, passed away Oct. 17 from cancer.
Cross taught EDSS 300, the introductory course for students entering the Single
Subject Credential Program in social science, at Cal
State Long Beach. About half the students at CSULB planning to be a social science
teacher had Cross as a professor. Cross was also a history teacher at Los Alamitos
High School.
Cross taught at CSULB for over 15 years. Kathy Allen, a colleague of Cross’,
remembers Cross coming to school dressed as Gandhi, which she said definitely
kept his students interested. Cross was known for doing things like this to engage
his students in what they were learning.
“
Dr. Cross is a great guy who everybody loved,” Allen said.
Cross wanted to help students learn, but he also wanted to motivate them. In
his classroom at Los Alamitos High School, he kept a quotation on his chalkboard,
which he changed weekly. Sometimes Cross would let a student pick the quote for
the week, which made students feel like what they thought and felt was important
too. They got to inspire the class for a week.
Megan Christy, a one-time history student of Cross said, “Dr. Cross was
bursting with energy every single day. Even at the end of the day, he was still
bouncing of the walls.”
He wanted his students to learn about life and how to deal with it... He was
a great guy,” Christy said.
Cross taught at CSULB because he wanted to, not because he needed to. His reason
for teaching at CSULB was not self-motivated, but student-motivated. Cross taught
because he wanted to help the quality of teachers that were going out into the
world. Cross also wanted to help the teaching system by teaching his students
to be great teachers.
A number of credential students are preparing a memory book to honor Cross’ life.
Anyone wanting to contribute stories about Cross should e-mail Elisa Herrera
at eherrer2@csulb.edu or visit the history department in FO2-106.
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