Forest Hills Public Schools

Larry DeBoer in a crown and cape on the first day of the 2024 – 2025 school year.

If you’ve attended FHC, you know—or know of—Larry DeBoer.

Maybe he introduced you to the empires that dominated the ancient world as a seventh grader. Possibly, he helped you become a better athlete or set your passion for theater in motion. It wouldn’t be unusual if he taught your siblings and parents, or maybe you only know of him from his student-run Instagram fan page.

This autumn, Mr. DeBoer celebrated his 50th year of teaching—all of which have been spent within our district. For most of his career, he has worked with 12 and 13-year-olds, a notoriously tough age to both be and teach. When questioned about why he would want to spend so long teaching middle schoolers, without hesitation, he shares his love for the environment.

“[CMS] is a wonderful place,” DeBoer said. “The community is fantastic, and the kids are awesome. I’ve [seen] I don’t know how many principals that have worked in this school. But every single one of them has been excellent. We have high-quality administrators and high-quality teachers. It’s a great place to work. I truly just enjoy coming to work.”

While DeBoer hasn’t been teaching at CMS for the entirety of his career, it’s been his home for the longest. He kicked off his career at Ada Elementary teaching sixth grade for one year and relocated the next to Thornapple Elementary for fourth grade. After these two years, however, DeBoer became a permanent fixture at CMS. 

At the middle school, he has taught all three grade levels—dating back to when CMS included 6th grade—and multiple, generally social studies-oriented classes.

Understandably, having been teaching for a much longer period than most other instructors could handle, his 50-year anniversary brings up questions about retirement. When asked about this, DeBoer affirms he has no interest in stopping. 

“As long as I am healthy, as long as I enjoy what I am doing, [I will keep teaching],” DeBoer said. “If it came to a point where I didn’t enjoy going to work, I would immediately get out. I enjoy getting up in the morning: I get to go teach school. I get to go teach school, and they pay me for it. That is incredible. I’m doing something that I’m not only paid for, but I don’t have to work at. It’s not work when you enjoy it.”

While, yes, DeBoer is an acclaimed teacher in the FHC community, he didn’t begin with this intention. During his time as a student, he was never guided nor encouraged to pursue a career in education. 

Instead, his plan was to move to a massive metropolitan area—somewhere like New York City, go into marketing, and make a hefty sum of money. However, upon being selected for a coaching position at CHS, his ambitions changed. 

Through football, DeBoer found his way into teaching and was fortunate to find a job at FHC. 

Now, DeBoer continues to coach football—at CMS, not the high school. In addition to this, the middle school’s football coach also serves as the head of the school’s theater department. 

“I’ve really, truly enjoyed theater,” DeBoer emphasized. “It gives you the experience to see kids in a different manner. And it gives them the ability to express themselves differently than people might see them in a normal classroom.”

Similarly, DeBoer’s acclaimed business classes allowed students to express themselves in nontraditional ways. These classes, while unfortunately discontinued at CMS, won the love of students, parents, and DeBoer himself. 

In “Business and Economics”/“Adventures in Business,” students created their own restaurant. With each student assigned a specific role in the business, the kids got a taste of what their futures as employees would look like. And, marketing to their peers, they gained responsibility and an awareness of important management skills. 

“The restaurant class was exceptional,” DeBoer said. “They [were the workers] who they were supposed to be in the restaurant. It really helps if we [at CMS] can inspire some type of a zest for learning. If we can get them to get the basic skills over here, they’re going to be pursuing excellent careers. Most of these kids in Forest Hills that are down here are going to go up to the high school, they’re going to excel in the high school, and they’re going to pursue college. If we can get them to understand what is expected and get the basic skills over here, then we can help them up at the high school in that way.”

While an increased need for hours of seventh grade social studies led to the class’s elimination, its legacy remains. Parents, DeBoer stresses, still approach him in public, asking if the class remains at CMS. 

While he has to respond with a no, he continues to teach the same morals to his current classes—principles like hard work, dedication, and benevolence. 

Accordingly, both in academics and attitudes, DeBoer doesn’t shy away from challenging his students. Even though he has taught from a period when the internet was unheard of to the age of ubiquitous cell phones, he maintains the same expectations for students. 

“I am a firm believer that students will work up to whatever level you set the bar at,” DeBoer said. “If you set the bar low enough, they will work to that level. If you set the bar higher, they will achieve that level. You have to realize what is out there and how easily [students] can access [materials to help them cheat]. Sometimes people will take the easy way out, generally speaking though, we still have the kids that are [hard-working].”

In addition, DeBoer continues to implement his focus on serving the community. As many of his former students can recall, DeBoer requires kids to perform 10 hours of volunteer work. 

This can include cookie baking for loved ones and neighbors, decorating bags for Kids Food Basket, ringing bells for The Salvation Army during the holiday season, and many, many other activities. 

Through this project, DeBoer hopes to spark a commitment in his students to making the world a more welcoming place. 

“The thing that I really, truly enjoy right now is the focus on volunteering and giving back to the community,” DeBoer said, “and if we, in Forest Hills, can even imagine changing the world. The world that we’re living in today is formed because of the world that was. If we can form the world tomorrow, we are changing it to a better, kinder existence for all people.”

While able to see the impact on students during the school year, he has seen how these life lessons stick with the kids. For many, his volunteer project remains one of the most memorable parts of middle school. 

According to DeBoer, one of his former students, now a leading heart surgeon in a St. Louis hospital, uses the lessons DeBoer taught to lead his surgical team. Specifically, he emphasizes the messages of treating all people with care and living every day as it should be lived. 

Because of instances like these, DeBoer continues to impress his integral life lessons upon his students. 

“If I was to ask them to walk away with [one lesson],” DeBoer said, “it would be to get the most out of every single day of your life. And to find out what you truly enjoy doing, do it to the best of your ability, and pursue that to whatever ends you can pursue it to. Act as if your life today will end tomorrow. Hopefully, everybody will take it to heart when I say, ‘enjoy life,’ because you’re never going to get a second chance at it.”