Note: This was written in the Spring and I found it unpublished in my blogs. So here it is.
The last couple of days have been a swirl of emotions. Emotions, plural.
The Spring 2012 Education luncheon was concluded yesterday and it has caused me to reflect over the last semester, the last almost nine years, over a career in education. And eventually back to my days as a student.
I'm thinking average would have defined me. I remember math being very difficult once we started adding letters into the mix. In grade school, I vividly remember SRA reading labs. Everyone was a different 'bird', blue birds, red birds, etc. They were clever disguises for levels. I think there was a day when I realized that 'crows' were not as pretty and smart as blue birds. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I do not have vivid, abundant memories of school days. Glimpses here and there, of certain teachers, activities, friends, events. Mrs. Minton's spiced tea that you got to drink when your tummy hurt. I still have the recipe, handwritten by Mrs. Minton on a recipe card. She did that for every student. Learning about the space race in science class, as it happened. Duck and cover. In fact, I still have the "in case of emergency" booklet that all students received, including the chapter on "In Case of Nuclear Holocaust". I'm not kidding. Little Olympics was the first place I had any kind of real public school success. Lo and behold I was faster than most, but not all. That Badgett kid from Hayes was freakish fast. And if you liked a girl, you swapped medals. And that was ALL that you swapped as far as I knew. Elementary school gave way to Junior High and competitive athletics, a class schedule, hanging out in the old HS auditorium listening to the Blues Image sing Ride, Captain Ride on the jukebox. Grabbing a bbq sandwich, nacho doritos, and coke at Lydays across the street. But I don't really remember much about class, or learning. Little bit, here and there. Coach Naylor and Oklahoma history, Ms. Howry's class a little bit, again just glimpses.
And high school went about the same way. Athletics, hanging out with friends, a 1964 Impala 4 door, but again, no real substantive memories of any classroom. And the ones I do have do not include learning or my academic ability or lack thereof. I knew I didn't qualify for or was enrolled in any of the 'smart classes'. Everyone knew who taught the smart classes and the 'average' classes. I think we knew our 'place'. And I was good with that, I was comfortable with that.
But that all changed with Ms. Lorene Rich's English class. I really can't remember which year of English. I think it was Jr. or Sr. year. She was eccentric to stay the least, and I liked Ms. Rich. The first thing you noticed was that she had blue hair. You know that color of blue that occurs when older ladies 'rinse' their hair and the result is some point in the blue color spectrum, depending on the amount used. I swear at times, hers had an effervescent glow. And I seem to remember her as a large lady, not really overweight, just big. She had a sharp wit, and was very savvy about students, especially boys, it seemed to me. She knew what we were thinking before we thought it. Or did it. And somehow, in spite of all of this, and we couldn't really figure it out, she was cool. And cool transcends age, and career choice, and blue hair.
Then one day in Ms. Rich's class, it happened. I received the only compliment that I can remember about my academic work throughout my public school career. It was a purposefully, almost flippant remark about a writing she was handing back. It went something like, "Well, Mr. Lynch, it seems you have some skills when it comes to writing, who would have thought?". Now that may seem somewhat condasending to you, but remember Ms. Rich was cool. She knew that if she overdid it, the rest of the 'guys' would have razzed me unmerciful. I still have the paper, an attempt at some historical Civil War fiction starring my great grandfather who served in the Confederacy. And it was very cheesy and not that good. But she saw some potential, still not entirely realized, but potential none the less. The grade was an "A" I think, heck I would have been surprised by a B. That memory has stuck with me through the years. And I'm not entirely sure why. But that very savvy, seemingly off hand remark changed me I think. Or at least gave me a new perception of myself. This eccentric, funny 'old' English teacher made a significant impact on me, and probably set me on my career path. A crooked path, but a path none the less. Thank you Ms. Lorene Rich, for being the coolest Blue Haired teacher I ever had.
