Keenan said he might have worked there his entire life had he not been told to take a job at Harding High School in 1975 after being informed Mechanic Arts would be closed within a year.

Jerry Keenan likes to be in his office well before school starts each day at Harding High in St. Paul. “The parade starts coming in about 10 to seven,” said Keenan, the school’s athletics ...