It’s still the best! Even my third grade teacher rejoiced when she received my letter. I was thrilled to receive a reply yesterday. We are pen pals of a sort, reconnecting a few years back at a grade school reunion. She was the teacher who had me rewrite Archibald MacLeish’s play, “J.B.”, when I was in sixth grade. I still remember the opening lines, even though I don’t think I had a role in the production.
“The Escape of the Lime,” was a fine lengthy poem – about ten pages – which was also a product of her pedagogy. I couldn’t bear to part with that when I was purging old memories. It’s safely ensconced in a basement bin. She was definitely a winner in terms of teaching, and my class of nine fellow students had her for third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades. She followed us, knew our strengths and weaknesses, and prodded us to do better. When we matriculated to public education in seventh grade, we were ahead of the game. 60% of our class graduated in the top ten those many years ago. She’s the reason I think the “one room schoolhouse” experience is worthy of merit.
So, spurred on I wrote a letter to an old friend yesterday. Just spreading delight via mail.
No wonder you remember her name! How lovely to have a teacher for several years that supported and pushed you to excellence.