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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; John &ldquo;Snoggy&rdquo; Mergo had the right idea about education long before the COVID-19 pandemic.
				Well, at least in some respects.
				In Plymouth High School in the 1960s, you were blessed to have Coach Mergo as your health teacher. His tests were easy and he helped you with the answers.
				For instance, Coach liked to administer multiple choice tests. He would read each question and then say this:
				&ldquo;The answer isn&rsquo;t A and it&rsquo;s not C. And if you put down D that means you&rsquo;re dumb and don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;
				OK then, B?
				Try that in today&rsquo;s educational system.
				Coach was also a disciplinarian. If he caught you not paying attention &mdash; sometimes known as nodding off for a nap &mdash; he would throw his metal ruler and hit your desk. &ldquo;BANG!&rdquo; And you were awake and ready to learn.
				There are many stories about Coach Mergo and his test questions. One of the most famous was: &ldquo;How many bones in the heart? True or false.&rdquo;
				Wait. What?
				Coach also would tell stories, like the time he tried to swim across Harveys Lake.
				&ldquo;I got halfway across, but I got tired and swam back,&rdquo; he would say.
				Get it? Halfway? Swam back? Why didn&rsquo;t he just &#8230; awww, forget it.
				Truth be told, Coach Mergo was a brilliant man who attained Hall of Fame records as the head coach of Plymouth&rsquo;s football, basketball and baseball teams for many years. He knew his sports. He inspired his players.
				But back to health class. Coach would be giving a lesson and he would say to me, &ldquo;Hey Boylee, look out in the hall and see if the big boss is coming.&rdquo;
				I would get up, open the classroom door and look up and down the hallway and report back.
				&ldquo;No Coach,&rdquo; I would say. &ldquo;Nobody is out there.&rdquo;
				Coach would then tell us to put our books away and line up at the door.
				Coach would then lead us out to the field behind the school and we would play softball. Coach felt that exercising our bodies was just as important, if not more-so, than exercising our brains on matters of health.
				Coach Mergo was all about education and athletics was something he felt was critical to a young person&rsquo;s development.
				And he was so darn good at coaching. And teaching. And he was funny. But we did learn from him. It is many years later and we still remember Coach Mergo more than any teacher. And we had many great teachers.
				Whenever I get together with childhood friends and acquaintances, Coach Mergo&rsquo;s name always comes up and we repeat these stories over and over and we laugh harder each time.
				Yes, because they are funny, but more because they taught us lessons.
				Coach Mergo was always sure that we learned the health lessons derived from books, but he also taught us the lessons of competition and the fun of playing games.
				Behind the goofy tests and the throwing of that metal ruler, was a real school teacher who taught lessons from a book and from experiences.
				Coach Mergo knew the X&rsquo;s and O&rsquo;s of a football play, the mechanics of a baseball swing and the intricacies of zone and man-to-man defenses on a basketball court.
				But he also knew how to reach his students and he knew that if students enjoyed their time in his classroom, they would learn.
				And Coach Mergo&rsquo;s classroom was not limited to a room in a building &mdash; he knew learning was possible everywhere.

Beyond the Byline: Lessons learned from Coach Mergo