My Friend, Curt Hiltbrunner

Recently, my good friend and former co-worker, Curt Hiltbrunner, recently passed away.  Now you have to understand that Curt had a fair amount of health issues, but he seemed to always come out of it every time in good shape.  So when I received the news this past Sunday morning that my good friend passed away from my wife, it blindsided me.  I was aware of Curt's most recent surgery from a post he made on Facebook back on May 7th.  In Curt fashion, he didn't make a big deal about it.  He, instead, just mentioned the procedure, and then finished it with Curt humor by saying, "I'm allergic to pain."  As always, I wished him a quick recovery and I just figured that everything would be fine, as it was dozens of time before.

I met Curt back in 2008 when I started working at Mille Lacs Academy School, which is part of Onamia Public Schools.  Curt had this small classroom, more like an office, where he would work with students individually.  Curt was a Special Education Teacher, and he worked with students who had a diagnosis of having a Learning Disability.  At the time, I didn't think much of it.  I saw that Curt   worked with these students very well.  I also saw a guy who really enjoyed his cat naps in the chair at his desk to fill the rest of his lunch time.  I honestly thought the naps could've of been a food coma sometimes, because he always put the rest of us to shame with his lunches.  It was like Manny's Steakhouse with all the fixings and trimmings every single day, it was impressive!  I remember telling him that he is lucky to have a wife that cooks so well for him, and he firmly responded with, "I'm the cook in the house!"

That comment introduced me to Curt's true character.  He was not afraid to speak his mind, but he also gave everyone a chance.  Like I mentioned, he worked very well with his students, and often times that was the key that gave the students he worked with a chance to get their lives back on track and being successful.  It wasn't until I worked with Curt, that I realized what the most important trait in working with students successfully is.  That trait being the single thing that is a make or break in working with students now, and it is the foundation of my beliefs in working with students today. That trait being relationships.  Curt was a master at building successful working relationships with his students.  It was a perfect combination of humor and believing in the student that made it work so effectively.  To be able to witness Curt in action in working with his students, was magical.

There was a time in my first year with the school that it was common that the paraprofessionals of our school often times had to fill in for the teachers when they were gone.  We didn't have access to substitutes to call in really, and we always took care of each other.  We had a teacher that needed to be gone for an extended number of days and it was for a classroom of students that were developmentally delayed, which at that time, was our most challenging classroom in the school.  There were no plans left by the teacher, and just to simply "wing it" was not an option.  So, for five straight days, Curt volunteered to cover the class and teach the students.  In fact, he and I did it together.  It was a blast, because we both were motivated and determined to make this experience a positive one for the students, and the engagement was amazing to witness, as you saw the students "buy in" because of that engagement.  That is when I considered Curt not only to be a mentor of mine, but also a friend, because he never saw me as someone less than him.  He didn't identify me as a paraprofessional and him as the teacher.  He saw me as an equal and always treated me that way.  Curt treated everyone like that at Mille Lacs Academy School.

I remember about seven years ago or so, after Mille Lacs Academy School moved into a new building, Curt had this big classroom to himself.  When I say big, I mean it was probably three or four times bigger than the office room he had at the school when it was located at the Crosier Center in Onamia.  Even Curt admitted that it was too big for what he needed.  Even making his personal desk space bigger, getting a bigger and more comfy chair for his desk, and bringing in his own personal refrigerator didn't help use up all the space.  All it did was make him shut off the lights, close his door, and he was set for every fire drill that he refused to evacuate for.  As the student base at the school changed, Curt's caseload was increasing and the number of student needs also increased as the school was getting more and more students with a diagnosis of having a Learning Disability.  It was becoming more difficult for Curt to meet with every student individually, but yet he had more space that was being unused.  I remember the day when another paraprofessional at the school, Cheri Kunesh, and I went to review student IEPs to see how many students that were currently enrolled needed the services that Curt offered.  The result was more than ever before, and we pitched the idea to Curt to develop and convert his classroom into an academic resource room, and he was on board with idea from the word go and he became actively involved in making this a reality.  This change meant that Curt's workload was going to increase dramatically and that he would potentially have to work with more than one student at a time.  He never criticized it, and never even questioned it.  He liked the idea because it was simply a way to help more kids.  I was lucky as I got to work directly with Curt in that academic resource room for multiple years.  I was lucky because it gave me multiple years of learning the importance of building relationships with students and how to do it effectively.

Finally, I want to finish this celebration of Curt by talking about his brutal honesty.  Like I said, Curt never intended to be purposely offensive and cared about everyone, especially his family.  His brutal honesty often times brought the loud laughs and the greatest humor.  I remember hearing from my fellow teachers about a time when Curt was at Special Education training in Little Falls and he was first in line when it came to lunchtime.  Like I talked about earlier before, the meals that Curt brought for lunch, really put an emphasis on how important lunch was to him.  So, lunch was provided at the training.  When the hosts brought out the food, Curt asked them what it was.  He was told that it was some kind of pasta salad.  His response was, "Yuck!  I am not eating that crap, I'm going to Burger King!"  He then went on to throw his paper plate and plastic silverware down on the table and walked out and went to Burger King.  On a side note, he had his nice name tag on that said he was Curt Hiltbrunner from Onamia Public Schools on.  I laugh to this day about this story, because it fits Curt perfectly when describing him.  Most importantly, the impact he made on me was the ability to laugh, enjoy life, and he gave me great tools for me to continue to work with students today.

Curt loved his family more than anything and he was clear about that at work, especially when it came to his grandchildren.  Curt was proud of everyone of them, and I share their sadness as we celebrate his life.  Thank you.