Montpelier High School - Record Yearbook (Montpelier, VT)

Page 12 text:

GRAY R. COANE Mathematics and Science During the fall of 1932 I began as a teacher in the Manual Training department of Mont- pelier High School and as coach of basket- ball. Later in the year I taught social studies and geography. (Strange how versatile man can be!) My initial experience as a coach showed how inexperienced I was in this field of en- deavor. In the first game with Bradford the score was 48-16 in our favor before I dared to substitute. Mark me down as a conserva- tive! MILLICENT L. DIXON Commercial My first experience in teaching was in Enosburg Falls, Vermont, a small but lively community. I took over at the beginning of the second semester, just as mid years were over—in fact, just ??? years ago now (as I am writing this). The one thing I remember about that first semester is the difficult time I had trying to prepare each day for six or seven different commercial subjects, then trying to correct the papers received from all those classes, plus the extra duties required of all teachers. I soon caught on that teaching school was no “cinch”. Had it not been that my colleagues were most helpful to a beginner, the students a really fine group of youngsters, and the townspeople friendly and appreciative, I would probably have changed professions after that one semester. But I guess I’m glad I didn’t. MILDRED L. HALLGREN School Nurse My first experience in school nursing oc- curred in Windham County. The local doc- tor examined the children at the school. One day there were eight children from the “Little Red School House” referred for tonsil oper- ations. One of my duties was to make ar- rangements for the clinic. A local home was set up as a hospital; the anesthesia was given in the dining room; and the operations per- formed on the kitchen table. The sunporch was the recovery room. A few hours after the operations the children were given a treat of ice cream, and then taken to their homes. JOHN L. HARMAN English What do you know about Arkansas? I found on my first teaching job that Clarks- ville in the Ozark Mountains boasted a co- educational college with a student work pro- gram. We lived somewhat like pioneers, but what bountiful hospitality we received! The enthusiasm of the students for learning com- pensated for roughing it. Of course, there was no skiing, but plentiful Indian relics could be hunted around the neighboring mesas. LEON R. HARVEY Coach and Physical Training Director My first school teaching experience was an awe-inspiring lesson in how little I knew of those I was entrusted to handle. The theory of teaching is easy, the practice of teaching hard, so my first day in school was (as my last promises to be) a search for that elusive something that makes humanity click. ISABEL HOLMSTROM Physical Training My first experience in teaching was in Medford High School in Massachusetts. The school had a student body of about 3,000 and there were approximately one hundred girls in each gym class. We started the season with field hockey which necessitated a walk of three blocks to the playing field. I have often wondered what the many people thought who lived en-route to the field or were driving by when they saw 100 girls walking along in shorts carrying hockey sticks. violet e. kp:ttelle Biology and Botony My first teaching experience was at a pri- vate Methodist school. I had one biology, one general science, and three French classes. Besides teaching, I had to chaperone the girls 8

Page 11 text:

E. WINIFRED BRIGGS Director of Guidance of Montpelier High School My first experience in guidance was in a Teachers College where I had to live in a tem- porary army barracks dormitory with 160 girls. Besides the public rooms and the di- rector’s suite there were 20 rooms in w'hich the students lived. With four double-decker beds in each room, chests, study table, and chairs the girls were just barely able to squeeze themselves and their belongings into the space. My guidance consisted mainly of keeping the house comfortable, advising the girls to keep their belongings picked up, and helping them to learn to live peaceably with each other. GLENN AIKEN Science My first teaching experience occurred as a research fellow in the Physics Department at Amherst College. The salary, on which the instructor was expected to live on (and did) was 75 per month. The intellectual diet was very stimulating, but i % meals per day left something to be desired gastronomicly speaking. A visit to the football practice field brought down upon my head the wrath of an over-zealous manager who suspected me of “scouting” (a practice frownd on in those days.) Though somewhat inarticulate were his apologies when, the next morning, he discovered the erstwhile “scout” facing him across the demonstration desk in the lecture room where he had come for his first class in physics. MRS. ARLIE BARROWS Art My first teaching experience was in a rural school in New Haves Vermont in 1919. There were five pupils, one in each of the first five grades. Thirty-four weeks comprised the school year, and the salary was 540.00. I taught there 2 years paying 4.00 a week for board and room. The first summer, I at- tended summer school at U. V. M. The second summer at Columbia University in New York. It was a grand experience, and 540.00 was adequate. ROBERT F. BELDING Mathematics My first teaching experience was in a pri- vate school. I suppose I went through about the same experiences as all new' teachers. Like them, I gradually “learned the ropes.” One of these “ropes” is a fundamental prin- ciple: Concerning the status of pupils’ knowledge, a teacher must venture no pre- diction; they always know more than we ex- pect, but less than we hope for. KATHLEEN I. BRETTELL French and English My first teaching assignment included a seventh-grade English class, predominantly lively boys. A popular radio program that fall was the HIT PARADE with its tobacco auctioneer whose commercial always ended, “Sold, American!” On the day in question I had just delivered what I hoped was a firm enough reproof to bring at least temporary order, wrhen, at the very back of the room, a boy, known to his pals as Slugger, gave his desk a resounding slap and, with all the skill of a seasoned professional, chanted, “SO- L-D! A-MER-I-CAN!” HENRY W. CASWELL Social Studies My first experience at teaching school was at Middlebury High School while I was still in attendance there as a senior. My mathematics teacher was also the prin- cipal and was quite often called away from class on administrative matters. On those occasions he would enlist us mathematics majors to take over the first year classes of Algebra and Plane Geometry. Both the stu- dents and I enjoyed this change. This indoctrination into the teaching field played an important role in deciding my fu- ture and, I might add, in changing my atti- tude towards teachers and education. 7

Page 13 text:

after school and week-ends at parties and on hikes. Evenings, I supervised a study hour. After all were in bed, I could check papers and prepare lessons if I had any energy left. On Sundays, I took groups to Sunday School, Church, Young Peoples, Evening Service, and ended the day by attending vespers in the dining-room. verne l. McDonald, Jr. Commercial My first teaching experience was teaching aerial photography to ex G. I.’s for a French- German woman who owned the Maine School of Photography. One of my first duties was to test her camera from a plane to determine its adapt- ability for aerial pictures. The test run in- cluded pictures of a large paper mill from an altitude of about 1,000 feet. When we developed the film pack she ex- ploded into a tirade of impressive language for it seems that I had double-exposed her very important pictures that she had taken at a banquet the previous evening. (I thought it was kind of funny to see a dinner banquet floating down the middle of the Penobscot River.) I still don’t know whether I got cussed in French or German. FORREST MYRICK History Since my first experiences in teaching were many years ago, my memories of them are somewhat vague. However my first night at the boarding school and Jr. College in Portland, Maine still stands out in my memo- ries. After coming to Portland on a night train and spending the first day checking over athletic equipment and laboratory materials, (I was to teach science and coach athletics), I found myself ready for bed at an early hour. It may be that I hit the hay a little too liter- ally or with too much bounce. Anyhow no sooner had I done so than I found myself and the mattress on the floor with the headboard on my head and the footboard on my feet. After removing the uncomfortable impedi- menta, I spent the remainder of the night where I had been deposited. DORIS I. NEWTON Music My very first teaching experience came in High School days. There must have been a desperate shortage of substitutes because I was asked to substitute for two days in a primary grade. I don’t remember which grade or much about what happened, but I do remember I was paid for it, and, at least, it didn’t discourage me completely, since I am still at it! HELEN T. SAULT Latin The first of my teaching experiences w'hich made any lasting impression on me must have done so because of the embarrassment it caused me. I had a very strong conviction that my most effective ally wrould be to make my initial appearance dressed in my best fin- ery. Consequently, I purchased, as part of my ensemble, a pair of my high heeled, very tight shoes. After standing on my feet, en- cased in their somewhat uncomfortable glory, for six periods, I was delighted to sit at my desk in study hall. There I slid my feet under the desk and out of the shoes, and breathed a sigh of comfort and relaxation. All would have been well, save that fifteen minutes after the start of the period, the principal appeared at the door at the far end of the huge study hall and announced that I was to go to the office to accept a long-distance telephone call. Obediently I stood, forgetful of my unshod state, and trotted the length of the study hall, leaving behind me one pair of elegant red shoes and a roomful of delightedly convulsed pupils. HAROLD W. SHIPP History and English My first experience in teaching school con- sisted of teaching classes in English, history, mathematics and mechanical drawing. In the winter there were plays to be coached, while baseball occupied the spring weeks. Aside from this it was expected (!) that I teach a Sunday School class and conduct the church choir. 9