School today is a different experience. The lessons I prepared then would now be viewed as obsolete, old –fashioned, or naïve. I have had some good times in the classroom, but some memories do dwell on awkward or uncomfortable times. One I recall is that when I was going into the ninth grade, which was the first year in the high school building in our town, I worried about what to wear. My mother, a talented seamstress, made a blouse for me to wear on the first day. The fabric was yellow like a sunflower, and she had embroidered a design using dark brown thread along the edge of the sleeves. It was lovely, but I worried about wearing it. After all, how was I to know what the “town girls” would be wearing?
My homeroom teacher, Ms. Owens, was a long-time and well- respected teacher. She supported rules! She demanded excellence! She had no sense of humor! Students entered the classroom and timidly sat at attention while she instructed us on the rules. She talked about taking up lunch money. She introduced us to the behavior she expected now that we were in high school. Then, she showed us the textbooks we were to use. Back then we “rented” our textbooks. Okay, as she picked up one after another, she said, and “This book with the yellow cover,” then horror of horrors, she pointed to me, “the color of her blouse, is the one we’ll be using the most.” With that comment, I nearly died.
Throughout the years, I have been cognizant of students’ anxieties. Whether or not a person fits in means a great deal. Commerce depends on these emotions, and thus “going back to school sales” focus on what’s going to be “in” in fashion, backpacks, electronics, and the like. “Keeping up with the Jones” starts earlier in grade school, but it blossoms mightily in high school. Fortunately, social media and the internet have made it easier for students to be individualistic. Unfortunately, social media and the internet and phones have made it more difficult for students to be sociable.
But Ms. Owens turned out to be the first teacher who saw my interest in writing. She was a member of a local garden club, and the six garden clubs in the area together sponsored a scholarship to a conservation camp. Goodness knows why but she asked me to write a short essay as to why I might like to go to camp. I had never been to any camp. I didn’t know what people did at camp, much less a conservation camp. There were many applications, but I won the scholarship. I went to camp. I loved camp. I even loved conservation camp. I became a regular. I went back as a counselor many years thereafter. One thing I was required to do that first year was to give a talk to the district meeting of garden clubs. That experience in the ninth grade led to many successes thereafter, especially in the areas of scriptwriting, speaking, teaching, and writing professionally. That September was one I don’t forget.