When teachers were teachers.
Male teachers were rare in my student days, except for gym teachers.
Mister P was jr high social studies. Then he was promoted to principal. This was not the end of his teaching.
He often filled in for teachers who had emergency days off. It was always a treat for us to have him inspire us.
Mister P was the kind of teacher who indeed inspired students to learn, to inquire and thing for themselves.
One could say he was suave. Well dressed and groomed, he had a modulated voice and one could sense his love for education. He created curiosity and kids reached out on their own past school time to learn for the sake of learning.
A consummate storyteller, I think my favorite recitation was Ozymandias.
I still hear his dramatic voice sculpting a tale of disintegrated vanity.
It still teaches me of fleeting fame and power. and the Biblical admonition of what happens when one gains the world and loses one's soul.
He left our school and resumed teaching jr high social studies.
One other memory was his resolute strength the day JFK was murdered.
Shared strength.
I pray and encourage others to be like him and many teachers of yesteryear.
How about you?
