Ellicott City Teacher Returns From War to Applause, Emotion

Standing nearly two feet taller than the middle school students that were positioned to cheer him on, Major George Wood paraded down the halls of the Ellicott Mills Middle School Monday morning for the first time in over a year.

Amid raucous applause from faculty members and students, Wood raced through the halls at mach speed, stopping at times to hug co-workers.

While he didn’t seem to necessarily enjoy the attention, it was clear that he was happy to be home.

“I’m real happy to be back in the school that I worked in for so long,” he said.  “I’m really blown away but all this support here today; this is incredible.”

Wood, a technical education teacher at the school, recently returned from a year deployment to Afghanistan with the Maryland Army National Guard. While there, he worked as a readiness support officer, helping the Afghan people improve the country’s security infrastructure.

Monday was his first full day back to work as a middle school teacher.

During the morning, he was treated to a hero’s welcome, during which he had the opportunity to speak to the student body on the morning’s announcements. He was also given a riveting round of applause during the school’s homeroom time, when students lined up outside the classrooms to cheer him on.

“This has been an extraordinarily tough year,” he told students during the announcements. “It’s been a very tough year balancing my family life and military service.”

For the last year, in honor of Wood, the school’s staff wore the color red to show support for his service. In addition, the PTA worked with administrators on setting up a support group for Wood’s family while he was away. The Student Council also sent Wood letters to keep him up to date with local information.

During his speech, Wood spent several minutes thanking the staff and the students for their kindness. He also bestowed gifts to Principal Michael Goins and Assistant Principal Nancy Eisenhuth, both of whom he credited with “saving” his job while he deployed.

“Thank you so much for saving my job; by law they are not required to do that,” Wood said. “This is where I want to be… This is a beautiful school with beautiful people and it’s great to be back.”

Wood has been a teacher at Ellicott Mills for nearly 20 years. While he was speaking during the morning’s ceremony, his voice was brimming with emotion as he talked about how much the school means to him.

“I think a good teacher should draw some lessons from their experiences and try to share those with the kids,” he said during his remarks. “There are three things I learned in Afghanistan. First of all cherish life and good health; don’t take it for granted. Good health is something that’s not automatic.”

In an interview following the ceremony, Wood, 50, said that while he was on deployment he found out his infant son had a severe disability. He credited the PTA group with helping his family through such a tough time.

“That support network was incredibly helpful,” he said.

Principal Goins also spoke during the ceremony.

“We’re having two very powerful feelings today and one is pride,” he told his students. “We’re very proud of Mr. Wood and we’re also very, very joyful…We’re just happy to know that Mr. Wood is home and safe, and as he’s walking around I want you to think about that. I want you to think about being home and being safe and walking with integrity.”