The Shower After The Storm
Aug 12 '00
Prologue:
When I began high school in the fall of 1967, our new high school (Pendleton Heights H.S.) was just a sketchy dream--mostly, in the brains of various people and not really down on paper. Therefore, my first two years of high school were at Markleville H.S. in Markleville, Indiana.
The main school building had two sides to it, these being separated by our gym and the wide hallway containing a phone booth and a few vending machines that was known as Gym Hall.
The west side was for grades 7-12. This was also where the clinic and principal's office were located. Just to the west of the west side was a newer building containing the home ec. area,; the shop area; and two other classrooms that were used for an assortment of classes, including--but not limited to--drafting, math, world history, agriculture, and French.
The east side was for grades 1-6. It also contained the girls' locker room and the cafeteria for the entire school.
Just east of the east side was the playground--along with a portable classroom where the special ed. class (taught by Pearl Clark) met. For most of the day, it was a self-contained class, as it had its own two restrooms and a sink. But the students there shared the playground, cafeteria, and gym with the other elementary students--and most of them were mainstreamed into age-appropriate (or close to age-appropriate in the case of the three or four who were of jr/sr high age, those taking gym with the sixth-graders) phys.ed. classes.
I was fascinated by that class, as I'd already decided I wanted to become a special education teacher. I knew that there were some students in the high school who were cadet teachers in some of the elementary classrooms (including my then-boyfriend, Chad), and I was hoping to become one in the special ed. class.
It turned out that I was too young--students couldn't become cadet teachers until their sophomore year. However, a pleasant exception was made in my case. I had a fifth-period study-hall each day, but, on Fridays, I got to substitute time in Pearl Clark's classroom for my study hall stint!
At first, Pearl used me to do busy work for her, such as tracing designs onto carbon paper so that they could be mimeographed. Later, she ended up having me to write little stories for the kids to read--as well as having me to start helping her out in other areas.
When I began my sophomore year, going to Pearl's classroom everyday during 7th (last) period became an actual class that I received non-graded credit for! I was thrilled!
It's during this year that the story I'm about to share takes place.
One more thing to keep in mind: When I first began to help Pearl during my freshman year, she told me that she didn't know who got taught the most in her classroom--her or the kids.
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The spring of 1969 had definitely arrived in central Indiana!
The previous night, there had been a major thunderstorm. Even now, the sky was still mostly cloudy, there were puddles and flooded fields, and raindrops dangled from the tips of young leaves.
Jesse Simmerman's big, yellow school bus stopped at Fall Creek Heights Elementary (from where I'd graduated in 1967--almost 2 years before) to let off riders in grades 1-8.
At this point, the bus contained mostly high school kids. This would be true until we picked up a few more riders from all grades, once we got into the Markleville area.
The exceptions to this rule included a couple of the girls from special ed. (Kathy and Gail) and a little girl (a fifth-grader) named Terri whose parents had decided, for a number of reasons, that attending the Markleville Elementary School would benefit her the most. Terri arrived at FCH on another bus but would transfer to Jesse's for the ride to Markleville.
Gail, Kathy, and Terri liked to sit next to me--usually, with Gail on my lap and Terri and Kathy on either side of me.
When Terri got on and took her seat, I asked her what she thought of the great, big thunderstorm that had taken place the night before.
"What great, big thunderstorm?" Terri asked.
I told her that it had come through around ten that night. Terri told me that, by 10 o'clock she was sound asleep, because her bedtime was at eight. I couldn't imagine ANYONE sleeping through that monster storm, so I figured that it must not have come through as strongly in her area.
Years later, I would find out that, once her head hit the pillow, Terri was dead to the world--it would be her husband, Don, who would take care of those 3 a.m. feedings when their son and daughter were born. Although Terri couldn't go to sleep if there were a lot of noise going on around her, once she was asleep, nothing short of a bomb going off could wake her up until her body told her she was good and ready to be awake again.
Jesse's bus pulled up to the school, and we got off. I walked with Kathy, Gail, and Terri over to the elementary side, as I had several minutes before I had to be in my first class. This was customary for me to do, as it just wasn't enough to only see "my kids" during seventh period.
We passed Dave Bos (one of the two sixth-grade teachers) and waved at him. When he waved back, we all started giggling, because the girls knew that this 26 year old studmuffin made me very, very lovesick!
Terri went into the main building, while the rest of us walked on over to the special ed. trailer. When we arrived, the other kids jumped up and ran over to the door where we all had a group hug.
Pearl asked me if I would mind staying to watch the kids while she ran an errand. She assured me that she would write a pass for me to my next class so I wouldn't get into trouble. I didn't have to be asked twice.
When I heard the buzzer hanging on the outside wall of the main building sounding its 8 a.m. signal, I happened to look at the clock. The storm must have knocked out the power for almost two hours, so I knew that the clock needed resetting.
At just under 5'4", it turned out that I was just a hair too short to remove it safely, and it came crashing down to the floor, the plastic cover over its face shattering.
I got the kids over to the other side of the room away from the mess.
When Pearl came back, I told her what had happened. "Oh dear!" she exclaimed. "Well, you'll just have to stay in here a little longer while I go get the janitor!"
After she returned to the room with Lucille Ebbert a few minutes later, she shooed me out of the room so I wouldn't miss any more class than I had to.
When I came back at the start of seventh period, the whole class jumped up and flocked around me giving me big hugs while Pearl tried to re-establish order in the class. All of the kids had made me pictures. Each picture was different, but all of them contained the words, "I LOVE YOU!" The kids who were unable to write those words on their own had gotten help from the others in doing so.
After the card and hug shower, it was business as usual with me helping Pearl with the various goings on in the class. Then, it was time for school to be out for the day.
That was when one of these beautiful angels decided to ask the scary question that had been, as it turns out, weighing on their minds all day: Was Pearl going to fire me?
The question was followed by a non-unison "chorus" of all of them begging her not to fire me.
"Don't worry kids! I'm not going to fire her--not THIS time, anyway!" The classroom erupted in cheers of relief. As the kids filed out the door to go to their different buses, they stopped to hug me again.
Pearl and I stayed behind to straighten up the classroom while we talked about what a special bunch of kids we had. Then, she drove me home with all of my pictures, which I put into a drawer in my dresser where I kept cherished mementos.
Epilogue:
Pearl had told me that, often, she found the roles of teacher and taught/helper and helped reversed in her classroom. That touching card shower given in hopes of softening the blow of an anticipated firing/rejection was one of those times!
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AinsleyJo
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Member: Ainsley Jo Phillips
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AJ is up bright-and-early this Halloween morning!
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