Baton Rouge High School - Fricassee Yearbook (Baton Rouge, LA)

Page 28 text:

“Why not teach others some of the skills which I had acquired?” -Geraldine Dyer Many have wondered what motivated a person to become a teacher. The Fricassee staff set out to discover the answer to this question from some of BRHS’s teachers. When Mrs. Schweitzer was asked, “What made you want to be a teacher?” she responded, “An interest in science and young people — the influence of two of my college teachers — one in zoology, the other in chemistry.” Mrs. Dyer gave a more in depth reply, “Becoming a teacher was not my first choice for a career. I’ve always loved working with numbers and had a very good background in that area. 1 really felt that working in industry would have been just great, but at the time of my completing high school and college, a black woman had no place in the industrial world.” She continued by saying, “Almost from the first year of teaching, I’ve enjoyed working with students. Sure, there have been some bad experiences, but the joy of seeing a face ‘light-up’ when one has worked on a difficult concept makes being a teacher delightful.” .spent I Audrey Burns Geraldine Dyer Loralne McDaniel Nancy Schweitzer Eleanor Thomas Marie Williams You know you’re a teacher when . . . ✓ Mary Smith This question gave some teachers a tough time, but two of them, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Kennedy found their answers easily. Mrs. Smith completed the sentence this way; “. . . you realize you don’t have to be crazy to be a teacher, but it certainly does help.” The question evoked a different response from Mrs. Kennedy. She said, that she knew she was a teacher when, “ bleary-eyed and tired from grading compositions that should have been returned last week, you still feel good and gratified when a student responds to a new idea.” A few minutes to rest. before offers Mrs. Smith a moment 24 Teachers

Page 27 text:

“ . . seeing an ‘idea strike’. . . ” is reward enough for teachers “The potential that is apparent in most of the students at BRHS makes it a challenge to do the best job one can do in order to have some part in seeing bright, talented young people develop, was the response from Mrs. Baker when she was asked, “What is the one thing that makes you glad you work at BRHS?” Mrs. Daly, another of the five teachers asked this question, replied, “There is really only one thing that makes any teacher satisfied with a school — the students. The enjoyment of working with young people everyday and the added thrill of actually seeing an ‘idea strike’ one of them cannot be duplicated.” Some of the other varied responses were: “1 get to meet fascinating people Where else could such a collection of people be brought together under one roof?” — Mr. Martin, and finally, a very different answer came from Mrs. Mattice. She said, “The windows that open. P.S. of course the terrific-kids help too.” Gt-iievd Bdker Jan Daly Mary Hamilton Andy Martin Jack! Mattie? The replies to the question, “If you could change one thing about your students, what would it be?,” were more varied than for any of the other questions asked. Although the answers were very different, they had one common bond — a concern for the students’ future’s. Mr. Dobbs responded to the question saying, “I would like the students to utilize their entire mind to think deeper, more logically, and more philosophically.” “If 1 could change anything about my students, I would try to change their attitudes. The reason for this is because some of the students react so negatively to certain things that are really of importance to them,” replied Mrs. Richard. Mr. Gerbrecht felt that he would like his students to have “better practice habits.” Finally, Coach Nee summed up the concern of all of the teachers who responded to this question by saying, “I would try to impress upon them the importance of planning for the future.” Ed Barnes John Dobbs Lee Fortier Teachers 23

Page 29 text:

From “slow learners to highly motivated Ruth Atherton Norma Gerace Robert Holder William Ltgnos Delores Schmidt Albert Wcstall Outdo Whalen Seven teachers at BRHS had been on the staff for ten years or more. The question they were asked was, “How has BRHS changed over the past ten years?” The replies, when combined, gave a clear picture of how BRHS was in the past. Mrs. Gerace, who began teaching at BRHS in 1958, replied that, “In 1971, BRHS was in a state of transition — we had lost most of the good students to Tara. There was a lot of unrest in the student body — riots occurred and there was a lot of vandalism, particularly over the weekend. It was very, very difficult to teach here then.” “Ten years ago Baton Rouge High School had many ‘slow learners’ and many discipline problems,” responded Mrs. Atherton, a fifteen year teacher at BRHS. She added, “Five years ago, BRHS became a Magnet School and the population changed so that most of the students here now are highly motivated and want to learn and make something worthwhile out of themselves.” Mrs. Whalen, a former student who began teaching here in 1958, said, “In the past 10 years, there have been no drastic changes. BRHS has always challenged the performance of its students and faculty to the utmost. There were years of trial and error within its past achievements, but with its changes for ever greater performance, BRHS has always remained dedicated to excellence.” Finally, Mr. Westall, a BRHS teacher since 1960, felt that two of the main changes were integration and that BRHS was a much better school now than it was ten years ago. LmIi Burnt Jo Calloway Johnallo Maiihew Gracie Perkins Norma Rutledge Mrs. Rutledge and Mrs. Mattews enjoyed quiet and sedate forms of relaxation. Mrs. Rutledge found “ reading a most relaxing pastime — especially when I’m tired.”, and Mrs. Matthews replied, “I take a thirty minute to an hour nap.” Mr. Burris had many ways to relax. He enjoyed going out with friends, working in his garden, and watching television. Mrs. Perkins opted for a more active form of relaxation. She preferred “two hours of aerobic dance.” Teachers 25 How do BRHS teachers relax? Students often tended to forget that their teachers were people too. But, the Fricassee staff remembered and asked some of the teachers how they relaxed after a long day at work. Their replies showed that they were just as normal as anyone else.