When Ert found an opening for a speech teacher at Plymouth Junior High in the Robbinsdale, Minn., school district, he jumped at the chance because it gave him the opportunity to also coach football. As a speech\/communication teacher and football coach in Robbinsdale for 34 years, Ert endeared himself<\/p>\n to countless junior high (middle school) and high school students, and many of them went on to pursue interesting professional careers due to his strong influence. His students included Darcey Engen \u201988 (Theatre Arts professor at Augsburg), Mad TV\u2019s Mo Collins, and actor Steve Zahn, who once donned a curly wig in junior high and did a memorable, gut-splitting impersonation of TV exercise personality Richard Simmons.<\/p>\n \u201cHerm,\u201d as he was affectionately known by his students, found ways to interest athletes in the drama program, and speech students in the football program, increasing the pool from which to draw and surprising many students who may not have otherwise considered such involvement.<\/p>\n Herm was, most notably, the first to teach improvisational theatre at the junior high level, creating a new model that was replicated in many other schools. When he died suddenly in a one-vehicle motorcycle accident two years after retiring, the online posts from former students said it all\u2014\u201cBrought me out of my shell.\u201d \u201cFavorite teacher.\u201d \u201cMade learning fun.\u201d \u201cCreative and passionate.\u201d \u201cI was fat and unpopular\u2026he cast me in the lead\u2026he lit me up.\u201d \u201cGreat mentor to so many kids.\u201d<\/p>\n Herm\u2019s students would often sit together at school lunch to write their own plays. With parental permission to miss some school, they would crowd into a conversion van to take their shows to local elementary schools. Using only milk crates as sets, and maybe a mic for the narrator, they often drew huge groups of youngsters.<\/p>\n When asked how her late husband came to have such a heart for young people, Pat Jones-Hermerding says she isn\u2019t sure how you can understand what\u2019s at someone\u2019s core, but she knew Ert had found his calling. He opened up his ideas to his students, and he had the kind of personality to which they gravitated\u2014a big personality that could take over a room. Everything became a story, says Pat, and it usually grew into an even bigger story. He was energetic and funny\u2014and fit right in with the kids. She takes special pleasure in reminders of Ert\u2019s legacy, particularly when encountering former students who have gone into theater, or played sports for a college, or become teachers.<\/p>\n The Apple Tree<\/strong><\/p>\n In October, when more than 20 family members and friends of Ert gathered next to Foss Center to dedicate a young apple tree in his memory, those attending were unaware of the tree\u2019s interesting history. They were just grateful for the tree\u2019s healthy start, and for the opportunity to designate a different tree on campus since the tree they had originally dedicated to Ert\u2019s memory in 2009 had become diseased and died.<\/p>\n The history of the replacement tree, they later learned, was tied to Augsburg student Emily Knudson \u201915, who had planted three apple trees as part of her senior Keystone p<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2018\/01\/ERT-CHERYL-1.png\")
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