[Stylist] A new prompt

Tue Oct 22 03:58:59 UTC 2019

Lynda,
Thanks for your illuminating answer.  Our school in Hollywood was just one. It was a small town between Brookfield and Riverside. We all walked to the grammar school and took our lunches. The high school had students from all three towns. I used to work summers at the Brookfield Zoo, it was over three miles from my house, and I walked to high school also, though I had a bike at that time. There was a streetcar stop right near the zoo.
There was also a train station at  all three towns.
Dedications are sometimes a challenge. There are usually too many people you want to honor.
You do a good job of honoring all of your fellow writers through your blog, your other features.
Jacqueline Williams

Clarity is just questioning having eaten its fill.
     Jenny Xie

-----Original Message-----
From: Stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Linda Lambert via Stylist
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2019 3:48 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: llambert at zoominternet.net
Subject: Re: [Stylist] A new prompt

Jackie,
I enjoyed reading about your teacher.
I think that one reason teachers were closer to students and parents is because they had neighbourhood schools. Where I live, in The Village of Wurtemburg, in western Pennsylvania, there was one school here and another one about 1 mile away, just across the bridge beside my home.  The children who attended these schools from K through 6th grade or 8the grade, all lived in their small village and all knew each other well.  Everyone walked to school  in the morning, then walked home for lunch, and then returned back to the school till it was over.   We were all in schools with our siblings, as well. 
These days, in our same area, every child is bussed somewhere - and many of the older schools in the neighbourhoods  are closed.    Children are separated from their siblings and each of the present schools is only for  2 different grades.  

When I was thinking about who I wanted to honor  in my Dedication Page for the publication of my most recent book , Star Signs: New and Selected Poems,  I chose to dedicate the book to my former high-school English and Philosophy teacher and his wife. Both are deceased, but I had the privilege of knowing them personally all of my life - and I am still a friend of their daughter and daughter-in-law.   I needed to ask their daughter for some facts and back ground so that I could write this memorial dedication to her parents.  They were both teachers, and pastors of churches for many years.   Their home was in the same village where I still live.

I hope you get your piece published because it reflects life as it was many years ago for many people who are now in their senior years,. It is a different world, for sure.  Thank you for sharing it with us.
Lynda

-----Original Message-----
From: Stylist <stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jackie via Stylist
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2019 3:57 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jackie <jackieleepoet at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Stylist] A new prompt

Vegas,
That is an interesting comment.
I was born in 1928, and I was sixteen. So it would have been in 1944, I think. I don't think the teachers made home visits just for grades, or as a usual thing, but in my case, I guess Mr. Thompson thought it was necessary to a recruitment.
Though I am in my nineties now, I even remember that my mother showed him the crabapple trees and gave him some crabapple jelly. 
I do learn a lot from reading what all of you "young ones" write. I think that includes everyone on the list! 
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Jacqueline Williams

Clarity is just questioning having eaten its fill.
     Jenny Xie

-----Original Message-----
From: Stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas Vasiliauskas via Stylist
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2019 12:38 PM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Stylist] A new prompt

> 
> Hi Jackie,
> I really enjoyed reading about your teacher and how inspirational he was.
> On another note: I found it very interesting that teachers still made home visits. I know that I'm considerably younger than you, but I thought that home visits were more of an 1800s and early 1900s phenomenon. 
Vejas 
>  
> 
> On 20 Oct 2019, at 15:56, Jackie via Stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Thanks to Annie. It is slightly different from her prompt. My goal 
> was to keep it to one page, and to possibly send it to The Reader's 
> Digest who has this feature regularly.
> Anyone want to join me? The Teacher Who Changed my Life  Jacqueline 
> Williams, Oct., 2019 The Teacher Who Changed My Life I was sixteen 
> years old, a junior in Riverside Brookfield High School in Hollywood, 
> Illinois. In spite of being active in athletics, and an excellent 
> student, I was extremely shy, lacking in self-confidence and an introvert.
> When I was enrolled in Social Science class, my teacher, Mr. Thompson, 
> asked the class to write their own philosophy of life. I loved the 
> assignment, as I read a lot, had many ideas, and I challenged many 
> traditional ideas, particularly about religion.
> He asked me to read my paper to the  class. I remember telling him 
> that I would rather not do  so. I was petrified. He was a sensitive 
> man, reassured me he would ask some others to read first. When it was 
> my turn, I got up in front of the class, and was shaking so badly, 
> that the paper in my hand shook and I could hardly read it.
> Regardless, he praised me and started a discussion of some of the ideas.
> In about a week, he asked if he could contact my parents for a home 
> visit, and said it was about the debate club, which he sponsored. I 
> did not object, though I knew nothing about debating, or what it entailed.
> Mr. Thompson did come to my house and while I did not hear the entire 
> conversation, the gist of it was that he thought I would be a real 
> asset to the school and to the debate team.  He felt that with my 
> parents support, my personal confidence and development would grow if 
> I would join the club. He also asked me about my plans beyond high 
> school. This girl, with her thick glasses, felt like a real person.
> I vividly remember those next months. We were assigned topics, had to 
> research both sides of those topics, practice debating our fellow 
> members on the side we believed in, but finally we had to debate again 
> any side assigned us by Mr. Thompson.  Then we went out on the trail.
> My confidence grew with each debate. I remember when we debated at the 
> University of Chicago, and our team received accolades and a trophy.
> Mr. Thompson gave me special recognition back at the school.
> How did this change my life? Primarily, it taught me to think, and to 
> realize that there are always two sides, possibly more, to every question.
> It trained me in having confidence to speak out, think quickly in 
> terms of rebuttal, and to speak with respect to others' opinions.
>    My family was transferred to New York when I was in college, and I 
> never return to my old school for any reunions. I was in my late 
> seventies when a boyfriend took me to Illinois, and specifically to 
> Hollywood, for a visit. I was able to walk the halls of Riverside 
> Brookfield High. On the wall was a big beautifully framed portrait of 
> Mr. Thompson. I learned he was the tennis coach with a winning record.
> This surprised me because he had a foot turned in a strange way which 
> caused him to walk with a severe limp. I wondered if this is why he believed that anyone could surmount problems, and
> he had devoted his life to helping others as he did for me.    
> 
> Jacqueline Williams
> 
> Clarity is just questioning having eaten its fill.
>     Jenny Xie
> 
> 
> 
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