‘Cool dude’ James VanSciver connects with Cape High kids

For a man who told his wife when he retired he’d do anything but substitute teach, educator James VanSciver can’t seem to stay out of the classroom.

In fact, VanSciver has held eight long-term sub positions at Cape High in the past three years. Throughout them all, he hasn’t missed a day and has made more than 80 calls to parents and grandparents, including those of sophomore Andrew Racz, to chat about their students. 

“I had never gotten a call from a teacher before, so it was nice,” Andrew said. 

VanSciver has taught AP statistics, special education, English and math. He admits he got car sick sitting in the back seat supervising students taking driver’s education classes.

While teaching economics, VanSciver told students to check oil prices and the stock market daily; many still do. He said he will be sad when this year’s class graduates. “It’s almost like they’re my grandchildren.”

VanSciver said he knows growing up can be frightening. 

“I live by three principles,” he said. “Kids don’t care how much you know til they know how much you care. Say what you mean and mean what you say without being mean. There are no bad kids, just bad decisions.”

Remembering what is important to each student helps build relationships, VanSciver said, laughing as he recalled when a student once told him he had a “good drip.” He later learned the term meant he had style.

VanSciver’s dedication to students doesn’t end when the bell rings. During his interview, he pulled from his pocket a sheet of paper listing upcoming games and student events to attend.

Junior Brody Smith said VanSciver gave students a signed copy of his sixth book published, “About Lewes.” 

“He’s so nice,” Brody said. “He’s always welcoming and positive to everyone.” 

Andrew said VanSciver acts as a guide to students, and doesn’t preach to them. Sophomore Jennifer Cotox said he greets everyone in the hallways with a kind word.

VanSciver gave junior Alex Taylor newspaper clippings of his wrestling matches and when he was named an Athlete of the Week.

“He’s a cool dude,” Alex said. “He always jokes and goes to all the games. He’s happy all the time. He’s a homie.”

Junior Cole Shellenberger said VanSciver treats everyone the same. “He’s a character.”

Students say VanSciver gives advice on subjects ranging from homework to resumés, and college to relationships, such as how to pamper your wife. 

“You can go to him for help with pretty much anything,” Brody said. “We’re lucky to have him here.”

Principal Nikki Miller, a student when VanSciver was Lake Forest School District superintendent, agreed.

“In the winter, he was picked by one of our wrestlers as their teacher to appreciate at Teacher Appreciation Night,” Miller said. “We need people who want to be here because they like kids.”

VanSciver hired Miller for her first teaching job at Seaford Middle School. 

“He has had a direct impact on my leadership,” Miller said. “He even wrote my first teacher evaluation, and he sent me a card when I got this job.”

VanSciver eagerly dresses up for every spirit day, wearing crazy hats or Hawaiian shirts.

“At my age, I have no inhibitions,” he laughed. “People used to say kids keep you young. It’s really a sense of excitement here that keeps your mind going. I enjoy the interaction, and I owe it to Nikki to do a good job.”

Early years

Although VanSciver has been embraced by Cape High students within the past several years, his local roots run deep.

When he was born at Beebe Hospital Jan. 6, 1950, VanSciver weighed nearly 12 pounds and for a while held the record for biggest baby born there. The Lewes High School grad also never missed a day as a student, a record he attributes to his mother administering cod liver oil to him every morning. 

“We lived on Lewes Beach for a bit and moved to Love Creek,” he said. “We were very poor and lived in a converted houseboat that was so poorly renovated that, during winter, we would have snow in the corners of our bedrooms and our pipes constantly froze.”

The family was rescued out of the houseboat’s back window by another boat during the 1962 flood.

“The water was about four feet deep in our house,” he said. “We had four kids, a dog, a chameleon and two parakeets on the top bunk in one bedroom.”

VanSciver’s father served in World War II and his mother quit school to be a plane spotter during the war. He grew up with his two brothers and sister on the Massey farm nearby.  

“We threw dirt chunks and pokeberries at each other and sometimes scared drivers by walking on the ledge of the bridge over Love Creek and falling off, making it look like an accident,” he said.

Growing up, VanSciver raked clams on Rehoboth Bay and worked in Massey’s chicken houses.  

“I knew early on that I didn’t want to be in or on the water in February and I didn’t want to be in a chicken house in July,” he said. “Thus, my interest in education.”

As a young boy, VanSciver played with the grandfathers of a former and current student.

“Mason Fluharty, who is now pitching for Liberty University, his pop-pop was George, and our two families were constantly together,” he said. “George and I got in our share of trouble. Present sophomore Gage Joseph’s pop-pop is Harry. My dad worked for Joseph’s Dairy and sometimes took me to work with him. Harry got me in trouble more than one time in that old barn.”

At Lewes High School, VanSciver excelled in football, basketball and baseball. He served on Rehoboth Beach Patrol for several years in the late ’70s. 

“I have fond memories of running on the blistering-hot sand and of standing in freezing, rainy wind, but, most of all, the relationships with the other members,” he said. “This July, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RBP, which will provide a time to rekindle old friendships.”

At Pennsylvania Military College, VanSciver trained to be a second lieutenant in the Army and be sent to Vietnam. When he was a junior, the conflict was winding down and there was no place for him in the service. 

While VanSciver threw himself into college leadership roles, he starred on the mound and gridiron all four years, earning three varsity letters in both baseball and football. 

As a junior, he pitched and won both ends of a doubleheader against Albright College, and his senior year, he had one of the lowest ERAs in the nation, averaging about 10 strikeouts per game.   

“Upon reflection, I really wasn’t a pitcher,” he said. “I could just throw hard and each batter became a challenge to see who was the toughest man.”

Baseball and education

A competitive pitcher through his mid-40s, VanSciver played for the Delaware Semi-Pro League’s Schaeffer Brewers and Canada Dry and Eastern Shore Baseball League. At age 39, he accumulated a 10-1 season record and was named the league’s outstanding pitcher.

“Because of my age, I had learned how to become a pitcher, using four pitches to set a batter up, becoming a backwards pitcher, leading with the curve and sneaking in a not-so-rapid fastball once in a while, and also using a slider and changeup from three arm slots – overhead, three-quarter and side-arm,” he said.  

VanSciver was involved as a player, coach, umpire and sportswriter for more than 50 years; he was inducted into the Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame and the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame.

“At each level I coached, I reminded students near the end of each game to be humble in victory and graceful in defeat,” he said.

Throughout his pitching career, VanSciver was a principal at Pocomoke High School and a superintendent at Lake Forest. Baseball was a distraction from the challenges of running schools.

“I really enjoyed the education part and cherished the baseball,” he said. “I always considered the success I have had in baseball to be not an individual accomplishment, but a team effort.”

VanSciver also earned accolades as an educator. He is a former Delaware Superintendent of the Year and Delaware Association of Educational Office Professionals Administrator of the Year. What he’s most proud of, he said, is the fact that each of his five children has a college degree.  

The former president of Read Aloud Delaware, VanSciver has been an adjunct professor at Delaware State University, Salisbury University, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Wilmington University master and doctoral programs.

Schools are most effective when they are designed for the benefit of students, VanSciver said, even if that means they are inconvenient for adults. He always kept a rocking chair in his office.

“When people would come to me in an elevated emotional state, I would invite them to sit in the chair while I busied myself with some activity for a bit,” he said. “It’s difficult to blow off steam when you are benefiting from the back-and-forth of a rocking chair. I also would offer them a Tootsie Roll pop. Just picture it. The only piece missing was a banjo.”

In addition to “About Lewes,” he has written three children’s books, an educational leadership book, and a book about Elvis the sheltie puppy. 

Looking forward to his 50th college reunion in October, VanSciver joked he feels old.

“I considered my age when I began hiring students that I taught,” he said. “I began wondering about my age when students I taught began retiring! It’s funny that I tell students that I can remember a time when there was no television and they look at me like I have a horn coming out of my head.”  

Looking back at a life well-lived, VanSciver said his nine-year stint as mayor of Frontier Town, the western theme park in Ocean City, Md., ranks as one of the most enjoyable times. 

“Every day, under the hot sun, we had bank robberies, stagecoach hold-ups, shootouts, train robberies, Indian shows, and can-can performances,” he said. “Each time, we shot the bad guys, but they mysteriously reappeared. It was like some of those video games kids play. Also, justice was immediate and absolute. Nothing like stepping back to the 1870s each day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to take your mind off of contemporary issues.”