1/29/21 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: Bishop Brennan at Our Lady of Peace Confirmation

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family:

In 42 years of education I have had the good fortune of working with thousands of young men and women. Having either taught or been principal in elementary school, middle school, high school, undergraduate college, graduate college, prison, Ohio and Bermuda the many, many students in my life are part of the fabric of my career and have, in many ways, influenced who I am today. This was not the case for me, however except that my love of literature persuaded me that my son should be named Huckleberry. Thankfully, saner heads prevailed!

The truth is that I remember most of my former students very well, even those from way back in 1979. I may not always recall a name. Sometimes I may, instead remember something he or she said or did, or where they sat in the classroom, or the grade they got or, as a principal, what they got in trouble for. Today I give you a spattering of memorable students from my past. I love my students. All of them.  All of them have helped to shape me to the person I am today.

A Corvette for an A:  Teaching American Literature one year to sophomores in high school it came time to assign grades for the quarter. When I called this young lady up to my desk to tell her that she was going to receive a perfectly respectable B+ that quarter she began to cry. It seems that her father had promised her that if she received all A’s on her report card in high school up through the time of her 16th birthday that he would buy her a brand new white Corvette for that birthday. She had, until the time of my B+, achieved this lofty goal and her 16th birthday was coming around the corner.

Being a poor Catholic high school teacher I asked her if maybe her Dad would consider at least a Chevette instead for a B+. She did not find my response amusing, although, to be honest, I wasn’t trying to be funny. The grade stuck and she ended up with that white Corvette anyway. I don’t know how. But it was a sweet car!

The Late Night Big Bear Worker: As a single parent it was one of those late night grocery store runs to buy milk or bread or dog food. As I approached the check-out counter the twenty something cashier looked at me and said, “You don’t remember me, do you?” Actually I did and told him so. He said, “You know, Mr. Silcott, I never read any of those books that you assigned me back in high school. Never read a one.” As I got my money out of my wallet I replied, “That’s probably why you are working at the Big Bear at midnight.” He also, did not find my response amusing. This time, however, I did!

The “I’ll Just Look Over Your Shoulder” Student:  I was moonlighting at Columbus State Community College out at London Correctional Institute. It was the end of the quarter and in a weak moment I agreed to come back to the prison on my day off to collect a last composition from a tardy student. I met him at the classroom, deep in the bowels of the prison that afternoon and he met me there. It was just the two of us. He was a large and sinewy man courtesy of the State Correctional Program’s fine array of weightlifting equipment.

He asked me if I wouldn’t mind looking over the paper then and there to see what grade I might assign the essay. I said sure and sat down to take a gander at his work. This large inmate moved himself behind me so as to read over my shoulder. In the area of personal space he was getting a little close. Recognizing my discomfort he asked me, “You don’t mind if I read over your shoulder?” “No,” I said lying. “Don’t let me make you nervous,’ he said.  “Even though I am in here for murder I am really not a bad guy,”

“I think this paper is excellent, “I said.” One of the best I’ve ever read.” What’s a few grammatical errors between a teacher and his inmate?

The Sign on the Bus:  A woman called me on the phone in my capacity as an elementary school principal early in my career. She had happened to be driving for the last two days behind one of our afternoon school buses and on both occasions she noticed the same two adolescent boys holding up a sign at the back window of the bus that proclaimed, “Honk if you like sex!” It didn’t take me long to ascertain who the sign holders were, two seventh grade young lads. I called them to my office to tell them how inappropriate their signage and their actions were. Because we are taught to try to end disciplinary meetings on a positive note I said to the boys, “Okay, I can see you doing this one time, but why two days in a row?’

With a seriousness of purpose that was totally sincere, one of the boys replied, “Mr. Silcott, we wouldn’t have done it so much, but people kept honking!”

One of the boys is now a Catholic school principal and the other a high school teacher!

The Bermudian Who Hated School:  As a sophomore in high school at the K-12 Catholic school in Bermuda, Alex was what was known as a slacker. If he turned in his homework it was copied from a friend. If he stayed awake in class he was disruptive. Although he was smart he was also a smart aleck and spent more time in my principal’s office than he did in class.

Through an association with the College of Bermuda and its President we were able to introduce juniors and seniors to careers by having them take afternoon classes at the college. Alex signed up for the Culinary Arts class to learn the rudiments of becoming a chef. The transformation during his junior year was astounding. His attitude changed and his grades improved. 

A few years ago I received an email clipping from the Royal Gazette, the daily newspaper in Bermuda. Alex had just received an award as one of the top up and coming chefs in the country. If I ever get back there, I am promised a great meal!

The Speech Student Who Stuttered: Teaching a speech class one summer at Columbus State on the main campus I met a young man named Dave. In speech class for the first meeting I don’t have students introduce themselves.  Instead I have them pair up with another, get to know them for 5-10 minutes and then introduce their new partner.

When it was Dave’s turn to speak about his partner it was clear that speech class was going to be tough. He had a severe issue with stuttering. After class that night he told me how hard this required class was going to be for him. I didn’t disagree but told him that I would help him in any way that could.

In my speech class for the second week I had everyone pick something to read. I find that this gets the students more comfortable for their first trip in front of the class than preparing a speech. Some students pick a children’s book to read, others a short portion from a book. Chicken Soup for the Soul always gave a lot of students something to bring. 

Dave told me later that he almost didn’t come to class that second week. He was sure that his reading would be long and painful, both for him and the class. But come to class he did and when it was his time to do his reading he began to read Hamlet’s soliloquy on suicide. “To be or not to be”, he said. “That is the question.” His first line was halting and slow. It took what seemed minutes to recite. “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer…” came out slightly better with only two or three pauses. 

Whether it was the energy in the room with every classmate pulling for Dave or whether it was pure determination on Dave’s part I don’t know but by the time he uttered the line, “When we have shuffled off this mortal coil” his reading was smooth and passionate and free of stuttering. In that moment he had become Hamlet and his class and I sat transfixed by this young man’s delivery.

Although he still struggled from time to time with the remaining speeches of the quarter his deliverance of Shakespeare’s words made him the leader in the class. I hope that the class itself gave him the confidence to continue to speak in public. It certainly inspired me.

Jim Silcott