The seven continents4/19/2023 She loved all the boys and we sat on the front row learning and enjoying our new level of self-esteem. The next class after geography was math taught by Miss Rose where all the boys were handsome, strong and smart. The instigators of this incident still live here and know who they are but out of courtesy and possible embarrassment, their names have been left out. She never did say anything to us about it. Sure enough she got in tilting the Chevy and pulled out with the cans banging down the road. After the last bell rang we hurried out to the parking lot hiding behind a tree waiting for the moment she drove off. We once got even during the Halloween incident whereby we tied about eight or nine empty cans underneath her car. The car leaned to the left when she got in. Most of the girls enjoyed front row seats. That usually didn’t last long however and the person was soon back where they belonged. Occasionally during a freak incident one of our group made a good grade and was moved up the row. She caught on to us and stayed in the back of the room watching our backs. However, that didn’t work but one time during a test. Our favorite means of communication was to drop a ruler, pencil or book, bend down and converse under the desk. Another habit that we learned to mimic was her ability to reach down her cotton dress and adjust some foundation garment, usually both sides. We could tell when it was coming as she always put her hand to her lips holding in the noise as her cheeks filled with the expelled gas. However, our, not so smart group, focused on the battle of wits, it was us against Miss King. Geography class taught us about other countries, the people, climate and other interesting facts. I really thought England was a continent. That happened to me once missing four out of seven of the continents lowering my self-worth even further. Miss King also had the ability to make a student burst into tears. That incident is still talked about to this very day. One such kid was picked up by Miss King two feet off the ground and was shaken backwards and forwards with his little legs flapping in the air. Pity the poor soul who got caught ogling another’s test paper. It also offered group study and sharing of information during tests which in the long run kept us all near the rear. It had the opposite effect by creating an area producing weird sounds, wet paper wads, unique smells, various fake coughing spasms and other abnormalities by 12-year-olds. Sitting in the rear of the class, surrounded by boys with very low self-esteem, did not foster learning. The last two rows near the back of the class were always full of the boys except for a few brainiacs with high self-esteem parked near the front. She did this by placing you by your average grade, seating the smartest kids in the first seat in front of the class and continuing down the rows. If you suffered from low self-esteem, which most of us did anyway, Miss King further lowered your self-worth. If you happened to be a sensitive child you were out of luck. She dealt corporal punishment at the drop of a hat and carried a ruler while walking around her classroom. To say the least, she was feared far and wide. Her reputation as a no-nonsense disciplinarian spanned generations. Miss King was notorious, strict and a large type women that towered over her little students. It was Miss King’s North Side Elementary sixth-grade geography class. There were four world globes, one in each corner of the room. The wall was covered with pull-down maps just like old window shades. I can still remember plain as day, mostly, the moment I walked into her classroom.
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