ENTRY 6

A REBEL ON WHEELS

Juanita  Randall. The only person  I had ever known who'd traveled the world. She had even ridden a camel in Egypt. I was impressed.  I could not wait to be in high school. I could have her as a teacher. (Well, there was another reason. A high school girl was always given the role of  Mary in my school's  Christmas play. By the time I got to high school, the nativity scene had been removed from the play. I am not bitter or anything.)

Miss Randal was a no-nonsense teacher. Her curriculum was like any other high school. Her students learned Spanish and read Charles Dickens and Shakespeare.  A requirement for graduation was that all seniors submit a term paper. If a student's paper did not meet her standards the student did not graduate. That never happened. it motivated students to do their best. 

My school began accepting students at all different levels of cognitive development. Miss Randall  did not adapt to the school changes. One day she walked out.

Adios Español.  So long, term papers. Cheerio Shakespeare. When Miss Randall walked out those courses left with her. I was crushed

Enter Penny. Penny was a hip, kind of kooky young woman who was our teacher but wanted to be our friend. "Call me Penny," she told us. It took us a while. Scratch that. It took me a while to get over the disrespectful feeling I got every time I called her by her first name.

Because of the cognitively diverse group of students we now were, I knew that I wasn't learning what I needed for college. I'd had enough. "You're not teaching us anything!" I yelled at Penny What happened to the journalism class? Our heated conversation was the talk of the school for a day or two. Nothing changed. I realized that Penny was doing the best she could under the circumstances.

I wanted Miss Randall to speak at my graduation.  I was not alone in wanting her as our speaker. One of the teachers assured me that she would not accept the invitation. None of the teachers had heard from her since she'd walked out. Miss Randall and I spoke on the phone occasionally. She would accept my invitation if I told her how much it would mean to our class.  I refused to back down. My class threatened to go on strike. I was told if we didn't drop the issue none of us would graduate. I dropped the issue. The former principal was our graduation speaker.

Thank you, Miss Randall. wherever you are, I hope you know that the semester I had you as a teacher left a big impression on me. You were the best teacher Elias Michael ever had. You believed we would succeed, and you prepared us to do so. You were not as tough as you wanted us to think you were. You were completely different outside of your classroom. You were relaxed, not tough as nails. You were cool.

That was the first time I rebelled against the norm. Against authority/ I shocked everyone. A kid with a disability in the 1970s wasn't supposed to have opinions.  Hmm, How do you think I'd look in a black leather jacket?