Mark (Chalky) Gleason

Interviewed in 2024

A fresh-faced, enthusiastic twenty-three-year-old History teacher with a quiet demeanour and a soft New England accent with a ‘certain sense of sartorial elegance’ ensured that School Certificate History, for me, was always going to be an absolute winner!

I recently chatted with Mark ‘Chalky’ Gleason about his long and rewarding career at Ashburton College.

Mark, his parents and four siblings emigrated from the United States in 1964 when Mark was 17years old.  Their reasons were understandable.  Mark’s parents wanted their offspring to benefit from a University education, and this was always going to be a struggle financially for the young family in the United States. They looked at options and decided New Zealand ‘fit the bill’. The family’s journey was via New York-Toronto-Calgary-Honolulu-Nadi-NZ, the last leg on an old-style propeller plane, and they arrived in Auckland. A brother and sister made the journey, but in an old German freighter. The family toured the country for a bit before deciding Christchurch would be their new home base. Mark had his last year at secondary school at Christchurch Boys’ High School, which made for a great settling-in period; then he was off to Canterbury University for four years, followed by one year at Teachers College.

University Studentships back in those days were of great benefit to many, Mark included.  The funding system paid for students to attend university, and so in Mark’s final year at Teachers College, he found himself with a wife, children and a few dollars in the bank!   The only catch was that he owed the Education Department four years of teaching.

His 49-year career solely at Ashburton College began in 1970 and would make Mark one of the longest-serving staff (if not the longest) at the college.   His subjects initially included History, English and Social Studies.

Ashburton College, at that time, was on three sites (High School, Hakatere College and the (then) new Walnut Avenue site), which made trying to get to classes at the three sites more than a little challenging!  The Ministry of Education provided cast-off cars for teachers to ‘race’ to classes between periods.  These vehicles just weren’t up to the task and were in very poor condition, and in desperation, Mark ended up using his own car.  

In those days also, there was no teacher “day relief”, and so if someone called in sick, classes were commonly combined and therefore much less effective.  Mark and other staff found this “troublesome in the extreme”.  

The ‘new’ 1970s classroom blocks (S68s) had several design shortcomings.  Soundproofing seemed to be a low priority, and if there was a teacher in the next room with a loud voice, Mark commonly found himself struggling to be heard. 

Mark has nothing but glowing comments regarding the brand-new College’s Rangitata Block and considers the teachers and their classes extremely fortunate to work in such exciting spaces. However, the proof will be in how they are used.

Harking back to my time in Mark’s classes, I soon realised I had ‘hit the jackpot’ choosing History.  Mark brought the subject to life, which, at times, can’t have been easy.  In those days, nine topics were chosen for the year’s studies: three New Zealand topics, three British and three worldwide.  ‘The Government of Benjamin Disraeli’ would not have been one I would have chosen, but we all did our best.  The choice of topics did improve over time, but Mark commented that it was difficult because topics such as the Middle East were, even then, fraught with complexities. Form 6, University Entrance was European-focused; Form 7 was totally British.

When my attention span in class waned, there was always something else to think about.  Where on earth did Mr Gleason find those stunning brown and cream checked trousers, and how did he manage to get himself covered in quite so much chalk? Well, in those days New Zealand imported very little clothing from other countries, and so it was almost all local product.  He still owns a Tekau jumper, but sadly, the brown and cream checked trousers have not survived into 2024. 

Mark felt that although teaching fads have come and gone and sometimes returned, education was extremely satisfying, and he saw many of his students obtain scholarships and go on to have wildly successful careers in many diverse fields. He is too modest to agree, but I am certain these many students would have found inspiration in Mark’s calm, intelligent and passionate approach to his topics.

Staff camaraderie and socialising back in the 1970s was pretty impressive apparently, and a lot of socialising was done at the Short Street Officer’s Mess.   ‘An Old Boys Club’  was fairly typical of the time; there was much Friday evening drinking and smoking.  Mark also recalled that the College Tuck Shop used to sell cigarettes to staff and smoking was perfectly acceptable in the Staffroom!

Young teachers were readily available in Ashburton in those days, and this was definitely helped by a very good supply of school houses with cheap rentals.  

Mark and Lesley returned to his hometown in the US about 20 years ago when their daughter was living there at the time.  He was astonished to find that almost nothing seemed to have changed at all in his former small upstate village when, in New Zealand, change was happening at an amazing rate.

Much later in his career, he studied law and taught Legal Studies, which he thoroughly enjoyed.  Teaching the larger number of students who were “all highly motivated” made the experience very satisfying as a teacher.  

Some of his worries for the future include such things as Artificial Intelligence, which should be positive but can also be misused.   Enforced cell phone bans, cyberbullying, and the lack of exercise that some students are not taking part in are all concerns for Mark.

Mark was an integral part of Ashburton College’s sports programme over many years.  Basketball and softball coaching, to name a few with really significant successes when an Ashburton College Softball team he coached came 2nd in the South Island against much larger colleges. The College had no gymnasium back in the 1970s, so all practices were outside.  He was also a cadet officer for over 25 years. 

Retirement for Mark has seen him continue his already strong interests such as  Woodwork, a hobby he began as a young boy, influenced by his grandfather.  He has produced a large number of items, pointing out to me several lovely pieces in his living room that he has crafted.  Obtaining suitable timber has become more difficult, but he’s always on the lookout for an old building which might hold some timber treasures.  Over the years, Mark has built tree houses and several playhouses, much to his children’s delight.

Mark still keeps very busy, and he commented that no two days are the same – he always has a project on.  I couldn’t help but notice that he had three biro pens in his shirt breast pocket in case notes needed to be taken, maybe some measurements needing to be jotted down for future reference.  There are probably plans for another tree house or play house for the grandchildren, and you can be assured that Mark will be absorbing news from around the World (ie tomorrow’s History topics).

And in case I didn’t convey it well enough to Mark while doing our interview, I wish to place on record my utter gratitude for unlocking the lifelong interest I have taken in History.