It was an ordinary day. My wife and I are in the midst of cleaning out our garage and all the closets in the house in preparation of some day moving to a retirement community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. One of the many finds that we made was an old 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" manilla envelope that was sent to me when I still lived with my parents and brother at our house at 929 N. Queen Street in Lancaster. It was addressed to me with a return address of 26 E. Orange St. in downtown Lancaster. Inside I found numerous report cards from my years as a student in the Manheim Township School District. The first 5 report cards were from my days at Brecht Elementary School, with the first dated 1951-1952 which would have been when I was in second grade and my teacher was Miss Wenger, one of my favorite teachers.
The final two were report cards from my sophomore and seniors years at Manheim Township High School. Throughout my years in the Manheim Township School District, which was from 1950-1962, I was an average student, at best. Found only one poor grade when I was in elementary school which was in 5th grade. It was listed in the "Expresses ideas clearly and correctly in writing" and was a "W" which meant "Indicates Weakness--Need for special attention, in the school or home."
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| A few more of my elementary school report cards. |
I also found that in 12th grade I had two "Ds" in French II. My reason for this was the good looking French teacher that I had that I could never take my eyes off of long enough to do my work in class. Our teacher, Miss Nolan, was known to just about everyone as "Shenna, Queen of the Jungle." Her beauty was more important than any grade I might receive. I received my best grades in high school in my Math classes as well as Art, Mechanical Drawing, Engineering Drawing, Driver Ed. and Physical Ed. Just about every other class in high school I had either a "B" or "C". My favorite teacher in High School was Mr. Miller whom I had for art throughout high school. Also enjoyed my math teacher who was Mr. Lewis, my Mechanical Drawing teacher, Mr. Ehemann and...even though I only got a "C" from Mrs. Eisenhart, my English teacher, whom I write about often.
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| Report cards from my years in High School |
I loved her class even though she picked on me in class. During my senior year I decided I wanted to be a math teacher and help young students who didn't have the best of skills, such as myself. So, I applied to nearby Millersville State Teacher's College. When I went to Millersville for an interview I was told my grades weren't the best to be a math teacher, as I wanted to do, but I would qualify to be an Industrial Arts Teacher. So...I became an IA teacher. Actually I became an IA Teacher before I even graduated from Millersville, since Industrial Arts was a state mandated course that all males had to take in order to graduate and there weren't enough of IA teachers to fill those rolls in high school, so I was allowed to begin teaching before I graduated. Finished up my college course work the summer after my first year of teaching at nearby York Eastern High School. At that point I returned to good 'ole Manheim Township High School where I taught wood and metal shop for a year or two until the department head allowed me the chance to start the courses Graphic Arts and Photography. If you haven't read my story in the past about how I got the job at MTHS, it goes like this: My brother was an excellent basketball player at Manheim Township High School and his coach happened to be the head of the Industrial Arts department, Mr. Ehemann. I began teaching at York Eastern during my brother's senior year and I asked him to talk to his coach to see if I could get a job at MTHS. A few days later, at the supper table, he looked at me and said, "You can have the job if you want it. Just go in and sign the papers." Seems Mr. Ehemann needed another teacher in the IA Department and since Mr. Ehemann loved my brother and his basketball skills so much, I was told I could have the job. The next day I went to the District Office and signed my new contract for the following year. I spent 33 years at my old alma mater and loved every one of them. My only regret from high school was...that I never took my English courses more seriously. I would be such a better story teller and writer today had I been a better English student. Oh, well! Maybe in my second coming I'll do a better job. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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