For many, school has started for 2020-21. There are a few differences this year. I send good thoughts and encouragement to all involved in education. The gift of learning is enormous. I think of the changes and challenges. It makes me recall a time in childhood that involved the need for flexibility and courage.
When I was in grade school, smaller schools were being consolidated with larger schools. Buildings closed. District lines were drawn. Opinions were shared. School consolidation was an emotional time.
Seventh grade year saw us attending classes at the heretofore Fairview High School building. The high schoolers were bussed to attendance centers in nearby larger towns.
The first day seemed long and dull. Suddenly, at 2:30 that afternoon, the door opened. A no-nonsense woman herded the seventh and eighth graders into a large upstairs room. Once we were gathered, she explained why she was there. We were startled to learn that arrangements had been made for us to learn French. We would address her as Madame Myers. She was the Hiawatha French teacher. Mme Hazel Myers would drive to Fairview each day for our French lessons.
Madame Myers taught us with no books. Her own vast knowledge, songs, maps, games, and writing at the chalkboard opened the French world to us. I was not a star student. It took me until March to figure out a few basics in French grammar. About that same time in March, Mme Myers allowed anyone who wished, to borrow one of her books. We were invited to try to read a "real" French book. For weeks, I stumbled through "La Symphonie Pastorale" by André Gide. I was able to figure out just enough-just barely-to follow the plot. The final test was to write in English a book report about this book. When she returned my paper, Mme Myers had written "très bien!" across the top of the paper. Mme Myers was generous in giving me such lavish praise – “Very Good!” Trust me, it was not even half-good, but I was proud to show it to my mom and dad.
Seventh grade ended; summer passed. There was no French during eighth grade. Then, for the next three years, I was privileged to study French again with Mme Myers at Hiawatha High School. As a senior, there was not a French IV class. Even so, Mme Myers would greet me with "bonjour, Mademoiselle!" when we passed in the hallway.
I graduated high school and married a farmer. We lived with our son in a cozy home. I sang French songs to our baby son while rocking him to sleep. Occasionally, I would check out one of the several French books from the local public library.
In the 1980's, our farming days ended.
My husband, son and I moved to El Dorado Springs, MO. One winter day, I noticed a small ad in the El Dorado weekly newspaper, inviting interested persons to apply to attend the School (College) of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, MO. I applied. A couple of weeks later, I received a letter telling me I had been accepted. Our family moved to Hollister, MO. For the next five years, we lived about a mile from the College of the Ozarks.
That fall, I began classes at the College of the Ozarks. Although it had been 16 years since I had studied French, Mme Myers had prepared me well. At the College of the Ozarks, Professors Mary Graham and Jan Kirsch held me to strict, high standards of learning. They, too, prepared me well, building upon the learning started all those years ago with Mme Myers. I graduated in May, 1993, certified as a teacher. I was 38 years old.
I share this story to encourage you. Each of us is learning something new as we move through the time of Covid. If you are curious about something, want to learn a new skill, take a class, pursue a degree, change jobs, travel (after Covid-19), reconnect with someone you once knew. . . Do It. Continue to learn, to try, to change your mind, to make a mistake, to fail, to try again. This makes up the richness of life.
This quote from Albert Camus is for Mme Myers, Mme Graham and Mme Kirsch:
"Au milieu de l'hiver, j'apprenais enfin qu'il y avait en moi un été invincible."
"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." --with gratefulness merci
Deuteronomy 31:8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
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