Fifty years ago today, I was a junior sitting among a mob of sophomores in Dot McAteers geometry class at Woodson High School in Fairfax. A wonderful teacher with a pronounced New England accent, Dot maintained a one-woman reign of terror among her students, other students in the school, and not a few of the faculty and staff. She expected us to be in our seats with book and notebook open, ready to begin class when the bell rang. She usually stood at the door to make sure we didnt engage in any anti-social behavior. She expected us to enter silently, sit down, open our books and notebook and be ready to begin work at the sound of the bell. A kind of arctic silence dominated the room. We did not speak unless we were called on to recite. On this Friday afternoon, however, she was not there. We dutifully sat stock still, waiting for her. She came through the door, stood before us (all four foot ten inches of her) and said quietly, Please wait for an announcement. Then she sat down. I had never seen her do this before. I wasnt even sure that she could sit down. Our principal came on the intercom and told us what had happened in Dallas. He asked us to board the buses quietly in a few minutes since school was ending early. And he asked us to pray. Generally, silence prevailed in Dots classroom, but this day it was as if all sound had been sucked out of the air. Dot stood up, walked to the board, and erased the colored chalk diagrams with which she always filled the space. She moved as if she had suddenly aged thirty years and proceeded from right to left, guiding the eraser in broad arcs. I remember watching colored motes of chalk dust float through shafts of sunlight slanting through the high windows. Dot finished erasing her carefully drawn diagrams, took her seat and sat immobile, her head down. The bell rang, and we filed into the hall without a word. For once, the same total silence filled the halls and our bus all the way home.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:35:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015