|
 Teachers in rural schools are special. Unlike the
great city amalgamated and homogenized institutes of lower learning,
the rural schools tend not to have teachers who are putting in time
until their heart stops. And it’s a mixed blessing, because rural
schools sometimes have to hire someone whose only qualification is a
pulse. But there are those rural teachers who go down in legend for
their creativity.
Like John Lewis.
After his first semester teaching at the high school, John
discovered that some of the boys in class … usually the misbehavers,
would raise their hands and ask to go to the john in the middle of a
class session. He suspected, when they returned smelling like
tobacco, that bodily functions weren’t the prime incentive for the
trip.
So he got a stick and made a big cardboard sign and stuck it in the
closet behind his desk. Then, the very next time someone indicated a
peristaltic urgency, he stood and smiled and addressed the class. [to top of second
column] |
“Everybody up!” he said,
smiling. The class stood, looking dumbfounded at each other. “Since
going to the restroom in the middle of class is a God-given American
right, I believe it’s only fair that we all share a small part of
it. So Pete, since you have asked to go, you get to lead the parade
to the restroom. Okay now, Cheryl, here’s the Potty Patrol sign. You
get to carry it. Let’s go!”
And with John singing his new Potty Patrol song, they all marched
over to the restroom and waited outside, chanting, until Pete had
finished (in an amazingly short time) and then they all marched back
to class with Pete once again leading the way.
Strangely enough, the restroom trips dropped dramatically in all of
John’s classes.
[Text from file received from
Slim Randles]
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