A SPECIAL TEACHER
Mrs. Smith was the principal of the six-room school where I was transferred when I entered the fourth grade. For years I looked at this lovely woman and admired her from afar. She was always willing to help anyone in need and I respected her for that.
The year I entered the seventh grade, I was transferred to Mrs. Smith's class. I had heard from other children that she was a strict disciplinarian and I dreaded the first day of school.
Mrs. Smith was indeed strict, but I soon found out that if you followed her rules, you had little to worry about. This lovely woman had a heart of gold and would go out of her way to make certain that you understood everything clearly. She gave up lunch hours, recess time and hours after school to help those students who were having problems.
We lived in a rural area and were bussed to the school. If a child became ill at school, there was no way of getting the child home. Mrs. Smith would call the child's parent to be certain that someone was available, put the Vice Principal in charge and drive the child home, using her own gas. No matter what Mrs. Smith did, she never expected anything in return except respect, which was given freely.
I was fairly good in school and seldom required help. Unfortunately, there was one boy in our class who could only read at a grade four level. He was sixteen years old and was taunted and teased because of his problem with learning. Mrs. Smith took Jim under her wing and spent many hours pouring over his lessons with him. We would peer in the window of the classroom and see the two of them seated at her desk, heads down, concentrating on the job at hand. By the end of the year, Jim was reading at a grade six level. Though other teachers had promoted Jim to the next grade because of his age, Mrs. Smith did not. Jim remained in grade seven.
Since grades seven and eight were a combined class, I watched Jim's progress over the next year. When I graduated, Jim passed into grade eight with a grade eight level in all subjects, including reading. The hours that Mrs. Smith had spent with him had paid off. Jim was ecstatic. He had only needed to know that someone cared. He went on to high school and college and successfully acquired a degree. He has often said he owes it all to this very special teacher in his life.
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