180 Days of Madness and Merriment
by
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SEPTEMBER 3RD
It’s the first day of school. The office is filled with parents who have brought their unregistered and/or unvaccinated children. I’ve already heard a teacher ask when school will close in June. I told her I was glad to get back to work, and she growled at me, and said, "Yeah! You’re happy, because you got your same class back, and those children are well trained. I’ve got a mess to work with this year. I tried to explain to her that "my class was not always the beautiful bunch of kids folks see now." When I first got them, they had raised cane from the kindergarten through the second grade. When I got them as third graders, I laid down the rules the very first day. I was very firm with them in the beginning, but as they fitted into my plans for them, I eased up on them. This is the beginning of our third year together. I can take these children anywhere and not feel ashamed of any of them. I have many teachers in my family. They told me: "Children read people very well. Children are like little animals, they can tell if you don’t like them or are afraid of them." One relative told me to always keep control of my class, but be fair as well as firm. This morning started out with a temperature well over ninety degrees in the shade. The children played out on the playground until the opening bell rang. There were many parents with them...especially the parents of the younger children. The teachers didn’t have to line up the children or even go to the playground to get them because my principal, Ms. Greenleaf , had said it didn’t make sense to have teachers create an artificial scene with the children who knew how to walk into the building, and go to their class rooms. I told the disgruntled teacher to be happy that we have the wonderful principal we have. She smiled, and went to her classroom. I remembered my former principal where I was five years ago. A friend of mine had told me that he had fondled her, and she had slapped him. He couldn’t stand her rejection of him, and certainly not the slap. She immediately transferred, but no report of the incident was made. I had come off maternity leave, and I was sent to that school where my friend had been. One day that principal called me to his office. I went down to the lower floor to get to his office. I was surprised to have him grab me in his arms. He had been waiting for me to round the bend. He tried to sexually assault me. I resisted him, and ran up the steps to my aunt. My aunt rolled her eyes at him. Neither my aunt nor I reported what had happened, but she and I were both transferred at the end of the school year.
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About the Book
My book was written as a diary to describe many of the experiences I’ve had as a teacher for over 35 years in Baltimore, Maryland’s public schools. The stories contained in this book range from the humorous to the tragic. The diary has been organized to cover a term of 180 days, which is the mandated length of a full school year. In reality, the stories in the diary are excerpts from my memories of teaching from 1948-1986. They fit into current news topics about our American schools. This book is the outcome of the encouraging comments of my friends who said to me, "You ought to write a book."
About the Author
I am a happy senior citizen who has enjoyed teaching in Baltimore, Maryland’s public schools. I’ve always had a desire to teach, because many of my relatives were teachers. I was an Art Major student in Fredrick Douglass Senior High School. My piano teacher was instrumental in getting me a scholarship to the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts. I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Coppin State College in 1950 and my Master of Education degree in 1974 from Loyola College in Baltimore. Retirement is wonderful! Gardening, writing and telling jokes are among my hobbies.