By Megan Joyce, Staff Writer
June 10, 2023
ROCKLAND- Mr. Donald McRorie, a substitute here at RHS, plans to continue for as long as possible.
Mr. McRorie is originally from Syracuse, New York where he attended St. Patrick’s High School for two years before his family moved to Florida.
In Florida, he went to Hialeah High School for his last two years, graduating in the class of 1964.
Mr. McRorie compared his high schools, “It was a significant change from a small Catholic school in New York to a huge public school in Florida. I liked public school better.”
His favorite subject in high school was French because it was straightforward and easier to understand than subjects like math or science.
Also, Mr. McRorie ran the 400 and the mile relay events in track. He also pitched for the baseball team.
He continued to run track through college, while he attended Florida Atlantic University.
Mr. McRorie got his business degree from Florida Atlantic as graduating class of 1968. However, he didn’t exactly enjoy business.
“I was undecided, and I was kind of pushed into it [business]. My father owned a business but I didn’t enjoy it much,” he added.
After college, Mr. McRorie continued his part-time summer job as a full-time job. He worked in pest control before joining the Miami Herald.
Then he became interested in substituting due to the hours of the Miami Herald not being as flexible as he wanted. He wanted to be able to spend time with his two children.
When he started to substitute at Whitman-Hanson and Rockland High Schools. He was then able to be home for his kids after school and began to coach them in Little League Baseball.
In addition to subbing, Mr. McRorie has refereed town soccer and was an Umpire for town baseball. Both of which he considers as late hobbies.
A continuing hobby for Mr. McRorie is card collecting, especially first-edition baseball cards.
He explained, “There’s something different about baseball cards. Hockey and football never really caught on like baseball and basketball.”
Currently, Mr. McRorie doesn’t want to travel anywhere else besides Tokyo, Japan. That is where his son and his son’s family live.
Substituting helps Mr. McRorie pay for his plane tickets for an occasional visit.
He describes the long distance as, “tough because I can’t see them [grandchildren] other than on Facetime.”
He explained that he enjoys working as a substitute at Rockland. He said, “the students here are very nice to subs. They’re all nice kids and it keeps me thinking young.”
Junior Sami Murdock described Mr. McRorie as, “very kind and understanding,” and that he “always tries to connect with students and tries to understand the work they are doing.”
Colin Mckenna, a sophomore agrees, he said, “He’s super nice and has everyone do their work so it’s productive.”
Mr. McRorie plans to return every year and hopefully, many more to come.