It's Teacher Appreciation Week....

.... if you are reading this you should thank your teacher.

Can you name all your teachers? Without digging through a box of old class pictures and report cards.

I can... Mrs. Robinson for first grade, they didn't have Kindergarten in my school district when we were kids. Miss Cook, I think she lived to be 192. Mrs. Bish for 3rd grade, BISH like FISH! Mrs. Wilson, who was the, how do I say this... most unengaging teacher of my life. I learned to be ADD from her, the woman just could not hold my attention. I did learn to love really nice shoes from being in her class. She always wore very cute shoes.

Mrs. Blackman in the 5th grade... my ALL time favorite teacher. She made up for my lousy 4th grade year. Then in the 6th grade there was Miss McCarty, who should have been a shortstop for the Cubs. Maybe she had spent time in Australia slinging a boomerang.... she could throw an eraser or a shoe across the classroom avoiding innocent children, beaming the victim in the head to knock him back into attention. Then she'd calmly say " Mr. Samaripa, please bring me my shoe." like nothing happened. (Those were the good old days...) These were not those dainty S-E-xy shoes that Mrs. Wilson wore, they were more like Riverdance Shoes. Heavy, black, thick soles, chunky heels, lots of laces... you could hear her coming down the hall when she was still in the parking lot.

Of course Junior High and High School meant more departmentalized classes and more teachers, some of which are still in my memories. Mrs. Duncan (English) aka Barbie's twin, she wasn't exactly like Barbie. Mrs. Duncan had dark hair where Barbie was a blond, but other than that she was just like Barbie right down to the tiny feet and the legs that didn't bend at the knees and all the other body proportions. Many a teen aged boy prayed to see her name on their class schedules in the Fall. I think my brother would have stayed in the 8th grade for 4 years, if he could have had her for a teacher twice a day.

Miss Goforth, Home Economics, she wasn't much older than us when I was in the 8th grade and I think I could sew better than she could. She once taught the entire cooking class with an ice cube in her mouth, not in her cheek either. What a way to get us to pay attention.

Coach Keener, for 7th, 8th and 9th grade History. He kept moving up a grade, by the time I walked into his class for 9th grade, he just threw up his hands and gave me full reign. Instead of my Mom going to the office asking "why is my daughter in his class again?" I think his mom showed up. Mr. Keener ended up marrying Miss Goforth. I offered to be in their wedding, since I'd been his student for 3 years (without failing the class) and hers for two, I think his response was "Oh Hell NO!" she was all for it.

Coach Baker, for Math. I only remember him having something like 24inch biceps. The boys never stepped out of line in his class, these were the paddling years... we'd evolved from the shoe throwing years. On the last day of school Coach Baker would "Hulk" a shirt. Shredding it just by flexing his muscles. That was so impressive to Junior High students, especially in early 70's.

Mr. Thomas..... my brother warned me about him. Dirty old man, all the girls would carry a sweater to cover their legs while sitting in those little desks. He also had the habit of ducking under his desk to take a swig from a pint sized bottle of something that looked like Listerine, but didn't smell like it at all. Then he'd start lecturing, his speech all slurred the way Listerine makes one speak when you've freshened your breath 3 or 4 times that morning. He once propped his foot up on an open bottom drawer of his desk, only to have his foot slip off into the drawer, crash through the bottom and become lodged under the desk so badly he had to have a couple of boys come help him untangle himself. Oh yeah, we gained some respect for him that day.

And who doesn't remember walking past the Teacher's Lounge in Jr. High School? Remember how you could only see legs in there because of the cloud of smoke? And it was always so dark in there.... I remember kids saying "when I grow up I'm going to be a teacher so I can go in there to find out what's going on...."

In High School we were so much busier, with our cars and clics. I had Mrs. Blackman again, she moved up from 5th grade to Junior English. I was her favorite student, it couldn't be helped. She was an excellent teacher. I've mentioned it before, her husband Mr. Blackman was also one of my favorite teachers.

There was Mr. Vassbinder for Government. I think people didn't like him only because his class was mandatory. But if you could get him to talk about himself or one of his trips, like the one to Russia, then you didn't have to listen to him drone on about US Government. So we'd all meet up outside his class and decide "what are we going to get him to talk about today?"

There was that one math teacher.... her name escapes me, poor thing, she should have retired 10 years before we were in her class. I think she did retire at the end of that year we were in her class. Especially when one of the boys accidentally let his Buck Knife fly out of his hand and it went flying toward her head only to stick in the little strip of cork at the top of the chalk board. Like I said 'the good old days' back when we could carry a knife to school and some of the boys had shot guns or deer rifles on racks in the back windows of their pick-up trucks. Who knew when you may have had to rustle up some grub on your way home.

Other notable people were, Mr. Atkins the Ag teacher, Miss Barnes, girls PE. Mrs. Smith for Home Ec...

I remember Mrs. Clements in the office... she was so sweet. She even liked my sister, whom I had warned her about. I guess I enjoyed working as an Attendance Aide, walking the halls of the school picking up attendance folders so much I decided to do this as an adult. Wow, I just realized it!

I didn't name them all, but I think I did pretty good. There were those that made impressions on me, good or bad.... I should have thanked them back in the day, but this will have to do for now. If you don't have respect for a teacher, spend time at a school... go volunteer. Then pattern your life as if you are teaching a child, you never know who may be watching you.