My fifth grade Math teacher died

[Liberalynn]

Why am I mentioning it here? Well because I have talked a lot about the horrible time I had in Catholic Grade School and how awful some of the nuns and teachers were.

It's only fair to remember there were some positives. Mrs W was definitely in that category. Though it was determined I had reading comprehension skills far above the average child my age, my math skills were far below the average. She never made me feel "stupid or lazy" because of it. Those words were used by my third grade Math teacher and the principal at the time.

Mrs. W just exercised patience and did her best to explain math to me in a way I understood. I remember the big grin on her face when I was able to figure out the answers without much prodding. My grade that year surprised even me.

She and my homeroom teacher Mrs L combined to make me feel a confidence and security that with rare exception was missing for me in that school.

They tried to intervene for me with the principal when they learned I had been assigned to the meanest teacher in the school for sixth grade. They even told my Mom that they were afraid that all the work they had done to help me come out of my protective shell would be undone. The principal refused to switch me to the nicer sixth grade teacher and their dire predictions were pretty much right. I had a year from hell that I still carry emotional baggage from.


I remember though whenever I'd run into Mrs. W in the hall she would smile and say "hang in there kid, I know it's hard but you can do it."

So RIP Mrs W. You made a difference with your kindness, patience and understanding.

[newcriminal]

1. RIP Mrs W.

[Liberalynn]

2. Thank You

[TuxedoKat]

3. What a nice story

Thanks for sharing it. What a lovely, caring person Mrs. W was. I'm glad you were in her class and what a pity that the principal wouldn't switch you to the better teacher.

[Liberalynn]

4. Thank You

[orleans]

5. ...

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
--Pericles

[Liberalynn]

7. That is beautiful!

Thank You !

[mrmpa]

6. I wish Principals would listen to teachers..........I had one who did.

I attended a public school for Kindergarten. I started at age 4, 8 weeks shy of my 5th birthday. I was the shyest kid around, I hid behind my mother's skirt whenever around new people. I got through the first half with my Dad walking me to school and the second half walking with my brother who was in 4th grade. I could already read & do simple math when I entered kindergarten.

The summer after kindergarten my parents moved from this school district and enrolled us in a Catholic grade school. The principal wouldn't allow me to go into 1st grade, because my birthday was 10 days after the cut off. My mother begged Sister Joachim to talk to my kindergarten teacher, who convinced Sister it would not benefit me at all by repeating Kindergarten or not enrolling at all. Sister listened to my teacher and my mom and allowed me to enroll.

I am thankful she listened, I would not have the friends I have now, nor the experiences I've had, if she had not listened.

[Liberalynn]

8. That is great that she listened.

I think the principal does a lot to set the tone. The principal when I was in kindergarten through six grade was terrible. She ran the school like a military camp and encouraged corporeal punishment. When she left in the middle of sixth grade and the new principal came everything changed. The new one fired all the abusers and did her best to make it better for the students and teachers that remained.