Ask Nelson …. and Ray Boomhower, too

Hard to believe, but many families are beginning to contemplate the upcoming school year. For some, a return to teachers and classrooms begins in just a few weeks. In celebration, or just acceptance of the inevitable, Hoosier History Live will take a look at some Hoosier educators who made an impact when our host, Nelson Price, is joined by a historian colleague for another of our call-in shows. It so happens that Nelson's co-host, Ray Boomhower of the Indiana Historical Society, had an unlikely driver's ed teacher during a summer session at Mishawaka High School in the late 1970s. More than 20 years earlier, Marvin Wood had been in the spotlight as the coach of Milan High School, the tiny school in southeastern Indiana that captivated the country by winning the state high school basketball championship. The 1954 victory, known as the "Milan Miracle", involved a legendary, buzzer-beating shot by one of Coach Wood's players, Bobby Plump; it served as the inspiration for the classic movie Hoosiers (1986).