Tale of Two Teachers

When I was in grade school, I had two teachers who when presented with almost the same circumstances had exactly opposite reactions. In both second and third grade were situations involving lost or stolen lunch money. The amount was 55 cents, insignificant yet an enormous amount to a kid. And of course, going without a wonderful school lunch was nothing less than devastating.

My second grade teacher represented the sunny disposition. Her reaction to the loss of money was letting her students intensively search the room. No book was left unturned so to speak. It was really fun sort of like an unplanned Easter egg hunt. Kids went everywhere with absolute enthusiasm.

Within a short period of time, the money was found, and I was the one who found it! As a reward, I received a bunch of candy. While the class watched a movie about earthquakes and volcanoes, I decided to share my candy with everyone. It was great watching all the building collapse and red hot lava flow down hills and roads.

But the best part was when the film was over. The teacher replayed it through the movie projector backwards. The film was even better in reverse. Buildings that were collapsed and in complete ruble in seconds became fully erect, and lava flowed uphill. All in all, at the end of the day the lost lunch money was not such a big deal and actually became a positive experience for the entire class.

When I got to third grade, it was a totally different story when lunch money went missing. The teacher, Mrs. Goetz, assumed that it was stolen. (It’s interesting how I remember her name and not the one of the really great teacher.) Yes, she believed at least one of her urchins plundered another child’s allowance. In her mind, there was a distinct possibility a potential gang of young hoodlums operated in her midst.

That probably explains why she meted out the punishment that she did. The entire class was denied after lunch recess. Now, imagine a bunch of third graders at the cusp of spring cooped up all morning learning and eating lunch. Then afterwards, sitting inside doing absolutely nothing while listening to other kids playing in wonderful warmth after a long, cold winter.

And this continued for an entire month. Finally, the culprit relented and admitted to the crime. Recess again was something to look forward. It was great going out to run and play. Unfortunately, that only lasted a few days. The perpetrator as it turns out hadn’t really committed the crime.

He was like the rest of us innocent cretins, but he got so tired of being indoors that any retribution given for stealing the money was better than being perpetually punished with recess denial. My only regret is that I didn’t think of it first, but then who knew at the beginning how long her hunt for the lunch money bandit would persist.

My second grade teacher spent less than an afternoon, and no doubt my third grade teacher would never admit that her method was a dismal failure. The money was never located even though many innocent children ended up being punished. Her insanity was expecting a solution even after it became quite obvious none was forth coming.

My second grade teacher was cool. She gave as one English assignment an essay on making a great wish. I wrote that I wanted to be in third grade. Little did I know what I was really asking. But, the teacher could have easily dropped my desire. Instead, she arranged to have me sent to fifth grade!

At the time I didn’t understand why the fifth grade, but after third and fourth grade, that was just the next great teacher. It was weird being with kids that were so much older. To a second grader, fifth graders seem so sophisticated. To my amazement I was able to follow along with some of their studies.

That’s because my second grade teacher allowed me to go at my own pace, which was faster than the rest of her class. I especially excelled in math completing the entire second grade math book while the rest of the class completed only about half. Anyway, I remember taking a spelling test while in fifth grade. I actually got a “C” which astonished many of the fifth graders.

I was in fifth grade for less than day. I actually got “homesick.” Still, it was a memorable experience. I never thanked my second grade teacher enough. I think I was really too young to fully appreciate what she had done. But after all my years in school, I finally realized that she was truly special because no other teacher did so much for me.