PHILADELPHIA - In suit and tie, with briefcase in hand, Frank Korcz arrived on the steps of A.S. Jenks School in South Philadelphia at 6:45 a.m. one recent morning. He tried the door. Still locked.

Once again, Korcz was the first at Jenks to show up for work.

He's a first-year teacher, fresh out of education school and eager to make a good impression.

He's also 77, the oldest classroom teacher in the 200,000-student Philadelphia School District.

At an age when most people prefer to set their own schedule, Korcz leaves his home in the Northeast in the dark and travels an hour and a half by bus and subway to pursue his new career, that of a second-grade teacher.

Love for learning

Bored with retirement and driven by a lifelong love for learning, Korcz traded in quiet days at home for school days filled with lesson plans, classroom rules, and a world of literature very different from when he was in second grade.

While state Department of Education officials had no data on whether Korcz is the oldest beginning teacher in Pennsylvania, they concede he's a rarity.

"So what? I'm that old," Korcz said with a smile. "I think I'm smart enough."

And when it comes to rules, he's from the old school - a stickler, indeed.

One recent morning, little Desiree Colangelo stood before the class describing the book she had read the night before, the one with "Captain Underwear." Classmate Armando Legarreta interjected: "It's Captain Underpants!"

Korcz's eyes darted about the room: "Who interrupted her?"

Armando confessed and explained that he was right: "I have the book."

Korcz shot back: "Fine. She has the floor. If you want to speak, raise your hand."

It wasn't until Korcz was 74 - eight years after retiring from a 41-year career in broadcasting - that he decided to become a teacher. In May, he received his master's degree in education from St. Joseph's University.

"It wasn't an easy thing, because I was the oldest guy in the class, and I saw all those 20-year-olds. Some of the professors said, 'Why do you want to do this?' I said, 'I think I could show some kids what I went through,'" he recalled.

Korcz's arrival at Jenks, a K-4 school, has been the marvel of many.

And, it has caused others concern: Can an older man, who acknowledges that he is "computer illiterate," keep up with the active minds and bodies of little children?

Jenks' principal, along with Korcz's mentor and the president of the parents' organization, say he can.

"He's enthusiastic. He comes in and asks loads of questions. It's amazing," said Patricia Flowers, a veteran teacher who mentors Korcz. "At 77, I think I want to be on a beach."

Native of Reading

Korcz, a native of Reading, Pa., who has spent most of his life in Philadelphia, started out as an actor in New York, but quickly found it didn't pay.

After odd jobs, he went into broadcasting, including a stint as a projectionist for The Mike Douglas Show.

After retirement, he earned a master's degree in pastoral theology. A year later, he was bored again.

"I really had nothing doing. I was totally frustrated. I moped around the house. I broke my hip, and I couldn't do things," Korcz said.

He read about the school district looking for people with bachelor's degrees to become "literacy interns" and work in elementary classrooms.

In thinking back on his own experience as a student, he could recall only one teacher who provided inspiration, a biology professor. He set out to do the same.

His wife, Katherine, wasn't surprised. "He has to feel he's doing something, and something meaningful," she said.

After three years as an intern at Creighton School, Korcz was ready for his own classroom. A job offer came from Jenks, which is on the other side of the city from his home. He takes public transportation so he can avoid parking problems and leave the family car for his wife.

Knowing that the Philadelphia bus system can run late, he leaves early and typically arrives at school more than an hour ahead of time. Sometimes he has to wait a few minutes for the building engineer to arrive and unlock the door.

He loves the job

He loves the job, so far.

"The only thing is, I'm still trying to figure out: How do you make little girls stop talking?"

His only peeve at this point? "If you're a teacher and you have 31 kids, you can't go to the bathroom," he said.

As a result, he doesn't drink coffee at school. He doesn't eat lunch, either. He survives all day on a glass of milk, vitamins and blood pressure medication. He rubbed his slightly rounded belly to show he's not starving.

Nor does he lack energy. For a math lesson, he moved up and down the aisles, pointing at pupils and firing addition problems. If one didn't answer, his finger moved to the next until he got the right answer.

He spends about three hours extra daily to prepare lessons. For a unit on the moon, he took a weekend trip to the library.

"I'm busy Saturday, Sunday. I didn't even watch the Eagles game," he said.

In the classroom, Korcz instructs his pupils on the importance of attending college and approaching life with a steely resolve.

"If they knock you down, you brush off your knees and you go ahead. If you make a mistake, you correct it," he tells them.

Korcz recently made a math mistake on the blackboard while the principal was observing his class. A pupil raised her hand and corrected him. He thanked her and moved on.

Korcz's second-graders find his age unremarkable. Not one of six pupils brought it up when asked about Korcz.

Cecily Giancaterino came closest: "My mom-mom says he looks like my pop-pop," she said, referring to her grandfather. Once, she called him pop-pop, and a teacher's aide tried to quiet her. Korcz didn't mind.

"He said, 'Come on up, granddaughter,'" the girl recalled. Korcz calls Cecily "my little performer," because she likes to address the class.

'He's very nice'

Desiree, the pupil who talked of Captain Underwear, said she first thought Korcz would be mean, "because he's a man. I only had women before. But now that I got to know him, I think he's very nice."

Armando, the pupil who got the little reminder for interrupting Desiree, agreed that he's nice most of the time.

"But you don't want to see him when he gets angry. It's big-time ugly," Armando said.

While at times stern, Korcz also is affectionate. He rubbed Armando's head one morning, encouraging him to finish his work.

Kindergarten teacher Jeanne Grimes said some staff members were skeptical until they saw Korcz in action.

"You think you're sitting next to a 30-year-old. It's his desire to learn, his willingness to do whatever it takes," she said.

Some parents were wary at first, too, but are warming up.

"Right now, my children are happy. They want to come to school. They think he's pretty funny, so I don't see a problem," said Gina Heiman, who has twin girls in the class.

Parent Maria Gallelli agreed. "To me, it doesn't matter what age you are. If you can teach, you can teach," she said.

One recent day, Korcz didn't get home from school until 10 p.m. - a 16 1/2 -hour day. It was parent-teacher night.

Soon, he'll have to spend time learning how to use a computer to input student grades.

Korcz isn't sure how long this career will last: "I'll be 78 on Jan. 19. I'll go year by year."