Visions From the Past

I often dream of being back in the classroom. Circumstances are always different but the one constant is chaos. My conscious mind tells me that at these times I am trying to sort out some situation in my present life. I do not ever remember chaos in my classrooms , it was always orderly, often a quiet murmur was in the air of students busy with their tasks or working at their centers.

Some of the things I do remember happening which were not part of the murmur of busy students do come to mind. Once when the children were out playing one of the boys came down the slide head first and momentum kept him going into the ground below. He came up bloody as he had somehow gotten a tooth through his tongue ! This happened at a county school called Twila. The principal and I took him to the camp doctor and he fixed him up right away. Needless to say, from that day forward this child came down the slide in a seated position.

In that same school there was no central heat. By prior arrangement a big eighth grade boy would come to the classroom before anyone else was there and build a fire in our pot bellied stove. The children were accustomed to this kind of heat source and knew to keep a safe distance. Fortunately we never had a burnt hand or anything else. However this same fire builder was unhappy with me. He had a little brother in my class and something which I cannot remember caused him to approach me in a very belligerent way. I was no match for this big boy and would not have wanted to tangle with him. Some of the mountain people could be very aggressive if they felt they had been wronged. By using tact and diplomacy I was able to alleviate the situation and calm him down. I had never been approached in such a manner before and did not want to give him reason to return with intended harm toward me. That incident stands out as it was the only time such a thing had happened.

My last year in the county I was at a school in a mining camp called Chevrolet. I had a precious little blue eyed, blond haired boy named Paris. He came to school in immaculate overalls each day. I had never had such a talker before. It was impossible for him to not talk. It was a nervous condition I feel sure. His mother gave me some history about his condition which she thought had caused the constant talking. Of course his mother was protective regarding Paris but it was not possible for him to learn with this physical problem. His mother quite plainly told me it was my fault that he did not learn. She did not offer an explanation as to why all of the other children did learn !! I always felt sorry about this little boy. If at that time we had access to our modern day school techniques of testing children or doctors who could diagnose his medical condition perhaps he could have been helped. Since I was not back there again I do not know what happened to that beautiful little boy.

In this county where I taught we had a program for teachers which was under the auspices of the University of Maryland. It was voluntary and I attended a group meeting each week in the evening. The leader of the group was a former principal of mine when I was in junior high. Her name was Ruby Carter. We each selected one of our students to study for the year. We kept notes and shared anecdotes regarding this child. We would discuss these in our group in order to gain some insight into the behaviors which caused us to choose that child. This was all confidential and I found it interesting and informative. The child I chose was Paris. Whereas our county was progressive in this child study area there was no money for trained psychologists or special education teachers.

As all of this took place in the late 1940's and early 1950's it is understandable that more help was not available for this little boy. He will always have a place in my heart and also a deep regret that I could not help him. At the end of the year he had learned to recognize 9 words.

First Teaching Job in Texas

I recently found a picture of me and some of my students in my very first teaching job. It was in a nursery class of three year children . The setting was an experimental Nursery School on Rodd Field, at the Naval Air Base in Corpus Christi, Texas in the 1940's. I had gone there to stay with the family of my sister's brother-in-law who was a Lt.Commander in the Navy. World War II had ended and he was an instructor there. His wife was expecting another baby and was having difficulty caring for her three year old. I was ready for a break as a different sister was trying to push me into a job I was not anxious to take. When I was asked to go there for a time I agreed.

I went by train overnight. This was my second train ride. The first had been to Richmond, Ky. to college. I well remember it as an old flame was on the train and he bought my supper on the train. I think he was going to his college as well. For some reason I remember him telling me his criteria for a wife. Maybe I remember it as I thought it was odd. She had to wear hats !! I think he was trying to say that he wanted her to be well groomed.

This trip to Texas was instructional on many levels. While there I saw my first buttermilk skies, and witnessed an amazing electrical storm. The sky was filled with lightening strikes and out in that flat land you could see great distances all around. That is not the case when you live in the mountains as you are limited to the sky you can see between two mountains.

While there I was able to take a week-end trip to Monterrey, Mexico. I went by bus and God must have been looking out for me way back then as I met a lovely elderly couple from Michigan on the bus, who took me under their wings. He owned a Mortuary in Michigan and this was a holiday trip for them. They took me around Monterrey with them, escorted me everywhere. They even took me to a shop where I sampled wine and to a restaurant where I had bean soup. I had never had beans mashed into a soup before. Also we visited a leather shop and I purchased a black leather purse which I used for over 20 years !! I still have some silver jewelry which I purchased there, earrings and a bracelet. I also have some pictures of the town and I saw so much beautiful tile on the sidewalks and buildings. It was a great trip and I almost missed it. Elma and John said "you should go as you may never have the chance again". They were so right .

Elma helped me learn to cook and sew. I made a striped woolen suit while I was there and wore it for quite a few years. I saw it in some of the old pictures I found. Elma showed me new ways to make old dishes. When I came back to my home in Kentucky, my brother teased me about my cooking saying, "some day she will be frying lettuce". Well, he was right . I have used swiss chard in my stir fries and it is a lettuce.

John was very good to me. He taught me how to drive and was very encouraging. Being an instructor for young pilots he knew how to direct instruction so that no doubt accounts for me learning so quickly. This was before we had automatic transmissions so I was using a shift drive. He encouraged me by saying " I think you can do whatever you want to do in life". I have thought of that many times when I learn something new - like using a computer !!

In addition to having a job in the nursery school I enrolled in an Art class in the junior college there. I went to the USO in town and met a very nice young sailor from North Carolina. We were great friends and had a lot of fun together, he was like a brother who looked out for me. I had a few dates with some of the cadets there but I had the most fun with the sailor from Winston Salem, North Carolina.

The young children I worked with in that first school were having their first experience with school. They were well behaved and enjoyed our activities. One day one of the little girls ran up to me, grabbed me around the legs, looked up to me and said "I love you Miss Mattress". She was mispronouncing my name but I loved it and it is still an endearing moment to me.

One day when I had the children in a little group reading a story to them they were all entranced except for one little boy named Alfred ,who had other ideas. I had him come and sit beside me thinking that would keep him calm but it did not. Eventually I had to send him away from the group for it was unfair to the other children. For any incidents of that sort the parents were told what had happened. Alfred's mother said "you did exactly the right thing". I later learned that Alfred's mother had written a book on child psychology. I am rather glad I had not known it before !

We had a Halloween party for the children and they each had on masks for the event. I sent some pictures home to my parents and my father said "what in the world is wrong with those children's faces' .

All in all it was a very good experience for me to live in the lone star state for almost a year, to be on a military base and to get a taste of being a teacher. For when I went back home I went back to College for a year and a half, graduated and did take the very job I had once gone across the country to avoid.