I have had many great teachers in my life. I've also had a couple of teachers who weren't so great, but I won't dwell on them. If I were to talk about all the great teachers I have had, this would be like those seemingly never-ending serials that folks used to listen to. (Yeah, I've been listening to the “radio classics” channel on the radio.) There are three teachers to whom I owe a particular debt of gratitude. Their lessons and leadership have been in the forefront of my mind since I began my sojourn here at the newspaper. They are my English teachers from Taylor County High School: Mrs. Glenda Hamby, Mrs. Estic Rollings and Ms. Gwen Faulkner. Every time I sit down to write a story, regardless of the topic, or I sit down to prepare for our weekly visits, I feel their presence.
Mrs. Hamby was my English teacher in both ninth grade and my senior year of high school. I remember she was like the quintessential Southern woman. If you can imagine a well-spoken Scarlett O'Hara, you're on the right track. Or rather, that Gloria Sugarbaker, from the TV show “Designing Women,” only much sweeter. Mrs. Hamby could be as tough as nails, and do so in the sweetest way imaginable. She and my mom frequently played bridge together, so you know there was nothing I was going to get away with; at least no longer than the next meeting of the “F&TBC.” (That was the little name my mom and her friends had for their “bridge club.” I could tell you what the letters stood for, but I won't. It's one of those “sworn to secrecy kinds of things.) I remember once, Mrs. Hamby saw me around town, long after I had become an adult. I had met someone in Tallahassee who knew her, and I told him he should ask “Glenda” about the F&TBC and see if she would tell him the story of the initals. When Mrs. Hamby confronted me, she said in her wonderful “Southern grace” sort of voice, “Rick, I have a bone to pick with you. I was so embarrassed when someone asked, in a social setting what the 'F&TBC' stood for!” I just smiled with a somewhat innocent smile.
Mrs. Rollings has my undying respect to this day. She certainly had her hands full with our sophomore class. Of course, I was not one of the challenging members of the class; but we did have a couple of guys who gladly tried her patience. It was in her class that I learned the meaning of the word “facetious,” which she used on a regular basis. If you don't know the meaning, I will tell you the same thing she would tell us, “Get the dictionary and look it up.” Come to think of it, my dad would tell me the same thing. I remember when we had to memorize the famous speech from “Julius Caesar.” You know, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears …” After I gave my presentation of the speech, she actually encouraged me to pursue acting. I later had the opportunity to thank her personally for all her encouragement and instruction. I think she genuinely appreciated it.
Then, there was Gwen Faulkner. I have to say, I think I might have loved her the most of all. Probably due to the number of theatre productions we worked on together when she was in charge of the drama program at North Florida Junior College. When I was a student of hers in high school, on the first day of class, she told us, “In this class you will do four things. You will write, you will write, you will write and then you will write some more.” That, we did. I remember, we wrote every kind of thing you can possibly imagine; from a research term paper to instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Gwen (As I later came to call her) was famous for her “peanut butter and jelly” homework assignment.
All three of these women will forever hold a special place in my heart. They were demanding and would not accept anything but one's best efforts. To this day, and beyond, I will be grateful for their toughness, their high expectations and, most of all, their love. If you have a Mrs. Hamby, Mrs. Rollings or Ms. Faulkner in your past, please tell them “thank you” during this “Teacher's Week.”