| Sidebar Ads |
|
| |
|
| Stephen Lewis: Surprise at Central luncheon, Columnist gifted |
|
By: STEPHEN LEWIS, Post Columnist
|
Posted: Sunday, November 1, 2009 7:08 am
|
 Email  Print
|
Well, it's official. I'm gifted.
You heard me right. I'm 100% unquestionably, undeniably and unequivocally gifted.
Like you, I'm a bit surprised. Not that I'm gifted but just that it took me so long to figure it out.
Perhaps you're asking how do I know I'm gifted. It's easy. Three schools that I attended in grades K-8 are now magnet schools. Sherwood Elementary in Memphis, Reeves Rogers Elementary in Murfreesboro, and now, Central Middle School in Murfreesboro.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
As a matter of fact I won't be surprised if Riverdale and Oakland don't follow pretty soon since I attended both.
I would say Clarkrange Elementary but they tore it down a few years ago. Maybe because they knew another student like me would never come through its doors again so why not go ahead and tear it down.
Central Middle is the only school I attended that I actually went back to work at.
Middle school teachers are definitely cut from a different cloth. You are working with children at the exact point in a child's life when they are the hardest to love.
Of course, it's easy to teach them since they already know everything.
Many teachers at Central have shaped me into the educator I am today. Some I had as a student, and others I had the pleasure of being a co-worker. Some I went to for advice, and others I watched from a distance.
Take for example the school librarian, Mrs. Delbridge. Mrs. Delbridge didn't put up with any nonsense. She's the only person I have ever known that could send shivers up your spine with a snap of her fingers.
Of course when she snapped those fingers it only meant one thing: "Get out!" Once, while teaching at CMS, I took a class to the library. She snapped her fingers at a student, and I flashbacked to 1980 and went straight to my classroom, leaving my students behind. I just assumed the snap was meant for me. I've been working on that snap for 15 years and still haven't gotten it to work like she could.
And what about Mrs. Estes.
As a coworker I don't think I've met a nicer person than her. But as an eighth-grade student we thought she was the "Straight Edge Nazi."
If you've diagrammed sentences you know what I'm talking about. If that line wasn't perfectly straight it was worthless to her. Don't even come to English class without something to make a straight edge. And if you dangled a participles? Forget about it!
I guess my middle school experience can best be summed up in one incident from the 1980 school year. I was hiding from some friends outside of shop class. Mr. King was the shop teacher and as far as I was concerned he was as big as all outdoors. I decided to sneak in the girls' bathroom, as I knew my buddies would never expect me to hide in there.
As I emerged from the bathroom, I stood face to face with Mr. King, who at that moment seemed even bigger than all outdoors. Five minutes later and three licks with a paddle that must have been cut from a California redwood tree and I made the commitment to never enter a girls' bathroom again.
Several years later when I went to work for Kroger I told the store manager I couldn't clean the ladies' restrooms due to my strict religious upbringing.
Attending the luncheon were many teachers you and I both had as middle school students. As hard as it was for many to see it go from a high school to middle school back in 1972, it's just as hard for some former teachers to see it pass from a middle school to a magnet school. Here's a list of some former teachers who attended the luncheon. See how many you recognize.
Diane Adamowicz, Kathy Adams, Claudette Alexander, Barbara Alsup, Cheryl Barnett (formerly Mrs. Ragsdale), Betty Baskin, Carol Ann Beasley (formerly Mrs. Hutson), Mary Leigh Beers, Marshall Bell, Carol Berning, Melanie Bowen, Darrick Bowman, Sheila Bratton (formerly Mrs. Duncan), Patrick Britt, Jane Byford, Debbie Cali, Milbrey Campbell, George Carlisle, Kerri Clark, Jill Coble, Phyllis Cooper, Glenn Davis, Barbara Delbridge, Barbara Dickerson, Sandra Drake, Sandy Estes, Lisa Ezell, Gloria Field, Sue Grubbs, Amy Grunow, Leann Hayes, Judy Heim, Lillian Hibbett, Pat Hibbler (formerly Ms. Wilson), Christy Higgins, George Hockenberry, Cary Holman, Shirley Holt, Jan Hooper, Rob Hooper, Shirley Hurst, Web Hutchings, Cathy Hyatt, Jesse James, Jane Johnson, Jeff Jordan, Bill King, Peggy King, Scott Kinney, Peggy Kruspe, Tim Lake, Dianne Lamb, Marcie Leeman, Susan Lewis, Vicki Lufkin, Valerie Lyons, Diane Mackey, Julia Maddux, Matt Marlatt, Leo Martin, Peggy Mason, Nancy Massell, Lorrie McDonald, Margaret Moore, Jackie Morton, Gary Mullican, Pat Murphy, Lynn Nolan, Patsy Owens, Dale Patterson, Holly Sain-Pearson, Pat Peay, Marilee Peterson, Vicki Petty, Deborah Richards, Mary Richardson, Peggy Richardson, Mary Rossman, LaFonda Rudd, Scott Sanford, Avy Seymore, Rose Marie Shipley, Sharon Summar, Pat Sumners, Gary Sweeton, Dot Tenpenny (wife of former principal Tom Tenpenny), Thomas Tenpenny, Jr. (son of Mr. Tenpenny), Lydia Tenpenny (daughther of Mr. Tenpenny), Randy Thompson, Butch Vaughn, Phyllis Washington, Bill West, Linda West, Mary White, Patrick White, Rick Wise, Steven York, Keith Young, and Kathleen Ziemanski.
Whew! Good turnout.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Opinions:
By: Hello-out-there on 11/3/09
I wish I had realized Mr. Carlisle was going to be at the luncheon. I would have camped out to see him again. He was a huge influence in my life.
By: nd88 on 11/3/09
Let everyone say what they want to say about Central Middle School, there's no place like it. CMS was a GREAT place to work, and there is no family like the CMS family.
Login and voice your opinion!
|
|
Digg
Facebook
MySpace
Yahoo!