Many generations! It is the story of a man whose sporting spirit inspired countless children's hearts that today beat in adult bodies, but whose memories have not faded one iota. It is the story of a teacher who fulfilled his mission for more than four decades and, although he has been retired for several years, is still fulfilling it today.
"Where is Herman?", I asked his partner Vera when I met her recently in Pohorje.
"Ah, you know, he can't get out of his own skin. He teaches basketball to kids on the playground in front of the school, and when he's done with that, he'll come to Pohorje."
"Hasn't he been retired for a year or so?"
"Yes, but you know him. When it comes to children ..."
Anyone who has ever walked through the doors of the Tabor I Primary School in Maribor knows about Herman Novak, a teacher who no longer teaches at the school, but who has left a precious mark in the hearts of every one of its pupils.
People always have a choice. He can take the line of least resistance and build the foundations that the law obliges him to build, or he can roll up his sleeves, open his heart and add a few more floors. Herman did not just add a few floors, he built skyscrapers. For one reason - to offer children everything that feeds his heart. To fill their treasury of memories with experiences, summits conquered, views and experiences. To show them how life is tasted and lived. Oh, yes, Life!
By the time I got to high school, I took it for granted that I would go to an outdoor school twice every year, that I would throw myself off at least one mountain peak every autumn, and that I would go camping, surfing, skiing and taking part in every sporting competition imaginable. That was just the way it was. Until I saw the drooping jaws of my peers when I told them about my primary school experiences, and until I was taught at college that it was compulsory to go to nature school only twice as part of primary school education. Twice, not eighteen times! Yes, that was the way it was.
He wanted to take us to all the school competitions, but the school often couldn't provide transport. How lucky that Teacher Herman had a big van!
"Keep your heads down, girls, the police are often here," he warned the girls, who were huddled in the boot, running their mouths. This kind of driving became a regular occurrence, and the boot became a place of honour for the most deserving.
There was no winter without the Winter Nature School, and no spring without the Summer Nature School. When he played hockey with friends on an icy lake near Maribor in the afternoons, he would take us - the adventure-hungry kids - pobasal in the van so we could skate too. If the sun was shining, he invited us to Pohorje. And even when it was raining. The weather is no barrier to a trip to the countryside. Always with a camera in his hand, so he could make a little film later and give it to us to remember, so that some experience wouldn't fade from our memories!
I remember my parents asking who was going to cook for us, where were we going to sleep... I remember Herman throwing papers on the floor and leaving the classroom in despair... But he always came back. He tried to explain to parents who had not had the privilege of tasting life that it was worth it! Oh, how very worth it!
I must not forget his sports teacher, Spela Bergoč, who was his tandem in good and difficult moments. She sought solutions, defended him against the jealous who threw logs at his feet, breathed to his rhythm, extinguished the occasional fire like water and built on with the same zeal as Herman.
As third-graders, we walked Pohorje in three days, and in fourth grade Herman took us to Uršlja Gora. In the fifth grade we were - as befits the first two-thousanders - ours at Raduha, and in the sixth I experienced my first high mountain sunrise at Ojstrica, knowing that these are the moments that my heart burns for. In the seventh grade I cried because I was not allowed to take home the dog I had adopted on the way to Pec, in the eighth grade we were faced with the ordeal of Mala Mojstrovka and Prisojnik... And those of us who were ticked off all the peaks, we became real Slovenians in 9th grade. Fourteen generations. In 2021, he took the 14th generation to the top of Triglav! Many of them have probably never found refuge in the mountains, but life has given them the opportunity to feel their power. What an honour to have been one of them. After sunrise on Kredarica and breakfast on the top of our highest peak.
As I write this today, I am tingling and tears are welling up in my eyes. It is hard to describe the gratitude for all that was ingrained in my heart and in the hearts of so many that day. Gratitude that it was he who taught me of flight. It's hard to explain how much work he did, and if the system hadn't tied his hands with all the ropes, he would still be doing it today. It is even harder to understand his passion, his sacrifices and his genuine desire to offer something more to children. I often wonder where I would be today if I had not grown up under his wing. Would I have known the magic of the mountains, which today are my place of salvation when life gets too full? Would I ever turn my skis around on a cello, enjoy surfing with the sea wind in my hair, would I ever sleep in a tent? Would you know fly? And what carries even more weight; would you teach others to fly? Would I infect my children with exercise and sport?
Today I am following in his footsteps. With a genuine desire to give something more to children myself; to take them to a world where hookworms live and time stands still, to give them the courage to go down the white slopes and to show them the stars you can only see when you sleep under a blue sky. Give them that something that would help them realise how little they really need. A piece of the mosaic that I myself was given many years ago, when I was curious about the world around me. Which is only in the mosaic of my life because someone genuinely believed in the values that enriched their heart and wanted to pass them on. Building new and new floors and creating soaring runways.
Teacher Herman, I am sure that today I and many others are turning to our lucky star and shouting out loud, "Thank you!" Thank you for making us grow under your wings. Thank you for giving us something more, and sometimes breaking the rules because the drive of your heart was too strong to resist. For working with faith in the good and with love, and for spreading what you yourself believe in most.
Thank you for infecting us with Life. The values you have passed on to us have taken root in our hearts and we are proud to spread them.
Nuša Maver
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