Justin Shrode
Ms. Mitchell
In the course of
a life one may only come across a few people that really touch us enough to
remember them forever. Ms. Mitchell, a teacher I had in elementary school, was
one of these few. She was also one of the most unusual teachers I have ever
had. The following is my remembrance of Ms. Mitchell and how she became my favorite
teacher, as well as the reasons she is in my memory to this day.
It was the first day of the fourth grade when I received my strange introduction
to my not so ordinary new teacher. It did not start with the customary way of
sitting down at a desk and going over everyone’s names. It was a little
more of a dramatic introduction than that. I was racing on my new Schwinn bike
through the parking lot when all of a sudden, I heard the backfire from a car,
and then another. I lost my concentration from this, and when I gathered it
back, it was too late. I found myself choosing between a chain link fence and
my new teacher’s car. After coming to, I realized that I was the laughing
stock of Adams School; even the teachers getting out of their cars had smirks
on their faces.
As you can imagine, it took some time to get this incident out of the day-to-day
conversation. But, eventually, it happened. Before long everyone forgot about
it. As I adjusted to my newfound fame, I soon realized how unavoidable my new
teacher’s attention was on me. Boy, was it intense the way she could stare
right into your soul and figure out everything you were thinking or feeling!
She looked at you through these thick coke bottle glasses, which made me dizzy
just to look into. Ms. Mitchell was everything a drill sergeant would want to
be, from the way her hair would shake and the chalk would break while she was
writing on the board, to just the way she would walk down the hall. You could
see that she was a very hard woman to keep up with, let alone be a student on
her “extra special” side.
She was a very unique woman in the ways she would present herself. First of
all, she always wore her leather sandals, no matter how cold it was. It could
be raining or snowing, but there they were! Second, I don’t know if she
just did not notice, but her clothing was always riding up her legs from static.
It may have just been from the high rate of speed at which she walked down the
halls. Thirdly, I can’t forget the salads with ranch dressing that she
ate everyday for lunch. She would be talking to you with carrots stuck in her
teeth, and ranch dressing around her mouth.
Towards the last months of that school year, we were approaching the Chinese
New Year. Every class had to think of something for the parade the school was
going to have. Our class came up with the idea of building a dragon out of boxes
and paper-mache. Anyone who knows me would tell you I have a huge passion for
dragons. Soon it would come down to my buddy Gilbert Solis and me, and which
one of us would steer the dragon. Finally, I was picked to steer the dragon,
which I believe was because of my height, as well as Ms. Mitchell just being
nice to me. During those few laps around the playground, I felt higher than
my dragon could fly and proud to be its leader.
Looking back on all my schooling, and up to the present day, I now realize that
it is these unique and special teachers like Ms. Mitchell that truly make learning
creative and worthwhile. They are the ones that open our eyes to different ways
of thinking. In this way, the teacher is able to bring the best out of each
student. As a result, the student is able to gain confidence, which makes learning
fun. If one is not enjoying what he or she is doing and having fun with it,
then, I can tell you from personal experience, the student will have trouble
excelling.