Everyone who ever went to school has stories about teachers, aka, the Faculty. I think our faculty from a small Catholic school has better stories. Ours consisted of nuns and lay people, men & women. After all, it was a different time. Our parents gave teachers carte blanche to discipline however they wanted to, as needed. I’m fairly certain nuns invented corporal punishment. We learned how to pivot when a desk was coming at you. How to duck when a large college ring was aiming for the back of your head. A paddle swung with purpose to the butt. All “parent approved”.
Being in a small school meant various grades all knew the same teachers. I think we can all identify the same people by common descriptions:
- The teacher with the indelible ink stain on his jacket breast pocket.
- The coolest English/drama teacher that was rarely photographed without a cigarette in his hand.
- A grade school teacher famous for the saying “toot sweet”. That one is Mrs. Laufer. She scared the shit out of me in my younger years, but I eventually took comfort that she always got me on the right bus.
- Mrs. Thomas – every young boy’s dream teacher. She was blond, young, pretty and wore short skirts.
- Fun and outrageous Sister Mary.
- The beauty and patience of Mrs. Bieranowski, the school secretary.
- All of this over seen by Monsignor Immekus. Walking the school yard every day after lunch. He was a presence, to be sure.
Yes, it was a different time. But, our Catholic teachers with their rules and discipline made us better people. I like to believe that, anyway.
– Jessica Montgomery
The Best
“The chemistry teacher Mr Stafford, Mrs Laufer, Bob Roemer, Joe Katrencik, the comparative religion teacher.”
“Sister Mary Schmidt, Mr K., Mr Roemer and Mr. Cavanaugh.”
“Mr K, Miss Penn (with her seemingly tough but vulnerable personality) Sister Mary, fun and kooky, Mr Roemer, Mr Pearson, Mr Stockey and Miss Sammartino – fun and cool. Mrs Lombardi too.”
“I also really liked the guidance counselor Mrs. Saia. She did not find it weird that I wanted to study Architecture and gave me helpful advice on schools that had good programs. In the end I only applied to Carnegie-Mellon, but I did end up living a block away and my husband teaching architecture at Pratt in Brooklyn that she recommended.”
“Mr Cook”
The Worst
“The history teacher who just had us read from the book, the chubby physics teacher, the nun who taught geometry.”
“Sister Ricarda (geometry) the worst. Not a fan of Mrs. Laufer either.”
“Don’t know any naughty teachers, but I remember when Mr. Stockey and Mr. Pearson arrived. Quite the scandal being the first male teachers we had in a school full of women and nuns.” – J. Montgomery
“I remember Mrs. Blank (I think) who was teaching us Spanish (really? In 4th grade ?), well whoever it was teaching us Spanish in grade school, she taught us this song Cuando Caliente El Sol, but she wouldn’t tell us what the words meant. Here is the English translation that she could hide from us before the internet: Click here“. – G. Grefenstette
Our brave teachers were passionate about teaching us. They persisted even in the face of arrogance and ignorance. Let us raise a glass to “our teachers”. Cheers to education and lifelong learning!