Sim SrrMItmni eanMit
The NEW
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PUBLISHED WEEKLY
"^E HEART OP
88560
VOLUME 11
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1968
NUMBER 12
Because New Bern has had its
full share of noble school teach
ers, we know you will share our
appreciation of Unes written by
Dan Valentine on the subject.
He never knew Mollie Heath,
Ruth Berry, Louise Bell Elea
nor Marshall, and others who
meant so much to so many In
early childhood, but surely
Valentine had their kind in mind
when he reached Into his own
heart and came up with a beauti
ful tribute you'll want to Include
in your scrapbook.
Life being what It Is, most of
us forget or have only dim re
collection of countless adults we
knew In our youth, but there's
no forgetting a teacher you truly
loved. The memory of her Is as
vivid as the colors In an August
rainbow.
Certainly no one will contend
that a teacher shouldn't be well
trained, but training isn't
enough. We never knew a good
teacher who didn't honestly and
sincerely love children. The
capacity for affection, and a
personality that attracts affec
tion in return. Is a classroom
necessity.
There have been teachers,
unfortunately, who found un
predictable boys and girls a
source of irritation. It is a sad
fact that in such Instances the
teacher experienced continuing
exasperation and her pupils
were victims of a largely wast
ed year.
Here are the tougfats of Dan
Valentine:
What Is A Teacher? A teach
er is many things..£he’s know
ledge with a smlleon her face...
Democracy with a book in her
hand...Wlsdom with a flick of
white chalk dust on her left
eyelid.
She comes in all sizes and
temperament... Short, tall,
skinny, plump...Laughing,hap
py and sad.
She's the future of the nation
in a sack dress...Love with a
college education.
In her everyday work week,
she's expected to be: Diplo
mat, philosopher, politician,
fight referee, pediatrician, po
licewoman, practical nurse...
and quiz program conducloi.
She has little chUdren in her
eyes...And all her dreams are
young dreams.
She's a psychiatrist without
a couch...Politician without a
promise...Babysitter without
the rl^t to raid the icebox.
She makes more money than
a dish washer...Or aditchdigger
...or garbage collector...
She makes less money than
a woman wre.stler...Burlesque
strip-tease dancer...Or the
women blackjack dealers in Ne
vada.
Her days are filled with
school bells...Young chatter...
Chalk dust...Waving hands...
Questions...and worried par
ents.
A Teacher Is Equally Adept
At: Blowing small noses, teach
ing fractions, putting on galosh-
ers, finding lost mittens In dark
cloak rooms--and making par
ents feel good at parent-teach
er meetings.
She spends four years In col
lege, studying hard, in order
to learn how to: Make orange
paper pumpkins at Halloween,
umpire baseball games at re
cess time, tell young boys to
throw bubblegum in the waste
(Continued on page 8)
TURNED OFF — Three year old Kathy, adorable
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. O. Hudgins of Route 1,
Merritt, knows exactly how to avoid what she doesn’t
want to hear, and demonstrates that fact. However,
females of every age are much too curious to keep
their ears out of commission, and Kathy is no excep
tion. During her short life she has discovered that
the world is full of interesting sounds and choice
conversation, and very little of what goes on in her
vicinity escapes her attention. Fortunately, she is too
young to have serious concern for the ills confronting
our nation, and that, in times like these, is not the
least of childhood’s many blessings. Kathy’s world is
much nicer than ours, peopled with Santa Claus,
fairies. Mother Goose, and the Sand Man, to name
just a few. Wouldn’t you like to share it for a change?
—Photo by Eunice Wray.