I am a very smart person.
That's not bragging, it's the truth. I have a way to figure things out in a split second, and I always have been. I was reading before I was 3 years old, and doing complicated math at 5.
But it's not always a good thing. To me while in school, it was a curse.
Now I say this only to explain some of the things I had to go through after I moved to Saint Joseph. You see, I was always able to blow through school without any problem. I just knew how to do everything they threw at me. But I started to get bored. It just wasn't a challenge for me anymore. When I started middle school, I was excited for new tests of my abilities. But it was more of the same. Math? I could blow through it. English? Science? It was too easy, and it started all over again.
I was just not interested.
My grades reflected this too. If I were given a math problem, I could figure it out in my head in 6 seconds. It was no problem. But you have to SHOW your work. I tried to show how I figured it out, but it wasn't the way the teacher wanted it done, so I just lost interest. Middle school was a torture for me mentally. But it wasn't all bad.
I met alot of the friends that I would have through High School at Upton. It was the base of what would become The Boondockers, and I would stay friends with most of them to this day.
If you went to Upton, you will remember Big Hunt and Little Hunt. 2 teachers with the same last name, but VERY different in size. Big Hunt was a mountain of a man with a heart of gold. I remember he had to discipline a student once that was so out of hand, he actually cried. Little Hunt was a pretty quiet guy, but he was a HELLUVA teacher with a no nonsense attitude.
There were other teachers I remember well, even I don't remember the names. There was a music teacher that I was convinced had a very good 70s, I remember Chris Omo being in the class singing Bee Gees tunes. Just cracked me up, but the teacher was areal trip. He always had us analyze songs for their inner meanings. Billy Joel's "Moving Out" and Kansas "Dust In The Wind" were just a few of these. I liked music class alot. It was something new everyday.
Our Phys Ed teacher, and I THINK this is how you spell it was Mr. Warenbien. I know his name, but forgot how to spell it. He always made sure he showed us the paddle he used to punish kids who would misbehave. It had a big MSU sticker on it. Scared the hell out of us. He was also the study hall teacher. One day I was screwing around in class, and he got mad at me. I had this stupid little string I was smacking against my desk. He took it away and said I could have it after study hall was over. When class was done, I went to get it back. He changed his mind and said that he was going to keep it instead. Well, that didn't fly with me and I told him so. Then I decided to grab his lunch that was in a plastic container and told him I was keeping it until he gave me the string back.
He punched me. Right smack in the shoulder. Hard. It stunned me and I dropped the container. He then dragged me down to talk to Mr, Koontz the principle. When I told him the teacher had punched me, he told me, in these exact words, "I would have knocked you on your ass!" Wow. I know I screwed up, but that was a little harsh. I had 8th hour that day, and walked home.
I got home and told my Mom why I had to stay over after school, and what had happened, she was pretty pissed off. At me, and at the school. I ended up with an apology from both the teacher, and Mr. Koontz. The rest of the time I spent in that school, I was treated very poorly by Mr. Koontz. He never forgot me, and made sure I knew it. Probably until the day he died.
We had shop classes too. Home Economics was great. I made a pie! I also made a cool gym bag that I had up until 6 years ago. But I really liked wood shop. We all made Swiss Clocks. The teacher, who for the life of me I cannot remember, was biased towards the kids that he didn't think had any talent. There were so many time I would see kids asking for help, and he would ridicule them, and then turn around and praise kids that were doing well. I'm not going to lie to you, I loved class, but really hated that teacher.
I loved the other teachers in that school. I got along with them all, and remember them fondly. I also remember playing "Assassin". Does anyone else remember that game? There was a target, and an assassin. The target could hire bodyguards to protect them, and everyone was "armed" with a gun that shot plastic darts. It was an awesome game. Try playing that game NOW in school.....forget about that. It was a simpler time. Man, I sound old.
Middle school had it's up and downs, but I made it. My grades were horrible because of how bored I was, but it was nothing compared to how bad it was going to be in High School.
What happen next? I run for Mayor! Check back tomorrow!
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