Basics teaching never disappoints . . .

Everyone knows I was so fortunate when I was in school to have had the best teachers on the planet, past, present and future.

Every single one of them exuberated their love of teaching every day. Every one of them had their own unique way of teaching, communicating and encouraging their students. School was an experience I am pretty sure everyone in my class would agree with me. I said this in a group recently and someone chimed in (you know there is one in every crowd) that if they were so great, why didn’t more of them aspire to be educators.

Well, one member of our class was not only a teacher, but he also became principal and then superintendent, all in Jackson County. Danny Sims was an excellent teacher, a great coach, principal, and superintendent. Out of our class, we had clergy, pharmacists, businessmen, artists, and the list goes on. Every class was taught by a qualified teacher that made me feel like they had been where I was then, they knew what we needed from personal experience.

Miss Elizabeth Curry taught home economics, that was one semester of cooking, cleaning, table setting and all that is associated with housekeeping and one semester of sewing. There was no doubt you had learned the basics in both semesters because we had to make something to wear to school. We had to cook a meal (no pre-mixed box stuff) but made from scratch. If fried chicken was on the menu, that meant on your grocery list, you included one WHOLE chicken that you cut up for frying. We cooked frozen vegetables rather than shelling considering the majority of vegetables are grown in the summer, however those of us who had winter gardens with fresh greens were allowed to bring them in to cook. Miss Curry had never married but she would have been a five-star wife. She taught us to set a table that would please the highest of the higher ups in the world and taught us how to make the food we served look appealing. She was adamant even at breakfast, you needed color on your plate so with the yellow or white eggs, bland colored meat of bacon or sausage, white grits, she added green parsley sprigs. Some of the food posters on social media could have benefited from her class, especially since paper plates were non-existent. We move to the sewing side of that, and we were taught how to sew a sipper without it showing (unlike this new craze with the back zippers fully exposed), stripes had to line up, patterns had to run in order – none of which is a requirement of even the most prestigious clothes designers of today.

Move on to the business teachers. We had the best, Mrs. Catherine Dozier and Mrs. Eunice Speed taught business procedures, typing, and business English. You better know you knew where to place your hands on the keyboard, and you did not look at your hands while typing. If not, a ruler served as a not so subtle reminder. English from seventh grade to twelfth grade, our English teachers were unmatched with any one around the panhandle.

From the time we entered high school (which at that time was seventh grade), your English teacher had you diagramming sentences, conjugating verbs, you name it, if it related to English we knew about it. We read awesome books that we were tested on and not AR tested either. Physical education – let me call out Ms. Belva Neel (Free) and Mrs. Ruth Baker.

We didn’t sit on bleachers, play on our phones (not that we had phones back in the day). We did sit-ups, jumping jacks, ran the 50-yard dash, did the 600-yard run walk (yes there was a lot of walking for that one) and we dressed out in white shorts, white shirt, white socks and white tennis shoes every day. We were dismissed from class 10 minutes before the bell rang to allow for a shower (which was mandatory) and I don’t remember anyone ever getting in trouble for being tardy.

History was another area where we were blessed with teachers who taught it as though they had lived through every era. Billy Grant, Mr. Prim, Miss Roberta Carter, Mrs. Polly Andreasen – it was like no matter which one your schedule drew, you had the best.

So, I say all of that to say this – there are still awesome teachers out there. Some give 250% every day and it matters not where they are teaching. Kim Mock has taught at every level but high school and guess what, she has excelled as a teacher at every level. From Golson Elementary to Marianna Middle School, to Marianna K-8 and now early childhood. Finding a teacher who is loved by both children and parents is rare and becoming rarer each year, but Mrs. Mock certainly fits that bill.

So, what is the problem with teachers today? Some are in it for the wrong reasons – it’s certainly not for the paycheck. Those who are in it for the right reason – for the good of the children – are faced with a majority of parents who can’t accept reality.

Reality is not every kid is a scholar headed to Harvard or Princeton. Not every child is destined for the MLB, NBA, or the NFL. Some kids are just average, and some are below average but can achieve success IF they are encouraged, nurtured and held accountable for their actions.

Everyone hears a lot about “he’s on the spectrum” and I am the first one to say, that is not an excuse for failing, not an excuse for being dependent on society to pick up the slack. Those on the spectrum are capable beyond what many ‘not on the spectrum’ children are capable of doing. You don’t know until you let them try.

We are in the second semester of school, reports are out and I hear parents saying my kid made all A’s and others say my kid would’ve had all A’s if it hadn’t been for Mr. or Mrs. John Smith! NO, your ‘kid’ would have had all A’s had he applied himself/herself. Applying yourself means asking for help when you need it, asking for clarification if you didn’t understand it all or if you were working on your ‘talks too much’ checkmark and didn’t hear it.

Take it to the extracurricular side and it’s ‘my kid is sure to be the starter on Friday night, he’s a natural’. Flip that to, ‘if the coach had any sense, my kid would start every game on varsity’. I have known more coaches than I can ever remember and I can say I have seen a few bad eggs but the other side of that is I have seen some awesome coaches. I have never seen one who had an ax to grind with one child and ‘punished’ him by not playing him when he was the best one for the position.

One of the most contested sports in Jackson County is fixing to take off and the ‘ifs’ have already started. Parents, you had your chance to shine both in the classroom, on the field, court, or diamond – let your child have their time now both in the classroom and in athletics.