Another English Class: One Where "A's" Were Scarce (Cont.)
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During that first day in her class, I was indeed listening to what she said, but I was also studying this woman--both her physical characteristics and the very unusual manner in which she dealt with students.

Perhaps in her early fifties, she stood and walked in a somewhat stooped fashion, but not noticeably bent over. In general, her appearance gave the impression that she was always tired, and at age fourteen, I viewed her as a "very old woman." But all her students soon learned that she was neither tired nor "old." Her compassionate and yet quite determined eyes seemed always to be on the students--literally and figuratively--but not in a threatening way. She seldom smiled and yet left little doubt that she understood and enjoyed young people--that is, if they worked hard and let her help them improve their skills in English. She had no patience for loafers, glib talkers, or persons prone to give excuses for poor performance.

Everything went along about as she had outlined the schedule. Beginning that very first week, we all handed in our themes on Friday and got them back on Monday--corrected and graded both for thought (content) and form (spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, use of grammar, etc.) And on each page of the theme she had written detailed corrections, including the exact numbers of the rules in Wooley's, Handbook of Composition, we had violated.

On the following Wednesday--just two days later--we handed in to this meticulous teacher a "correction sheet" dealing with all the errors we had made earlier in writing the theme. This correction sheet included the correct spelling of words missed, revised punctuation and sentence structure to conform to the Wooley, Handbook, and corrections of any other errors made. Miss Potter then checked these Wednesday papers and handed them back to us just two days later--the Friday when the next theme was due. For any errant student who did not hand in a theme on time, the penalty was to remain after school and write it that same Friday afternoon, even though it meant missing the weekly high school football game. After that first week, when it became clear this stiff penalty would be enforced, very few students failed to get their themes in on schedule.

Writing themes is not all we did in Miss Potter's English class. We also read and discussed selected pieces from English and American literature; had debates; gave oral reports on essays and books read; and occasionally put on plays. I remember I once played the role of Scrooge in Dickens' A Christmas Carol under this talented teacher's direction.

We were never idle, and I soon began to enjoy the rather rigorous requirements when I realized I was making some progress in the English class. Not since my sixth-grade year under Miss Inez Ellis at Western's Training School (the demonstration and laboratory school operated by Western Kentucky State Teachers College.) had I been pushed with such persistence to measure my academic performance against standards of excellence. I had almost forgotten--until I had been in Miss Potter's class for a semester--how satisfying it is to work hard under competent guidance and accomplish something worthwhile and lasting.

Speaking of "lasting," I still have in my desk file drawer-- more than half a century later--about twenty of the themes I wrote in Miss Potter's classes during the period 1925-28. And on each of these papers is one grade for "thought" and another for "form."

Miss Belle Potter was a great teacher. She was well prepared in her field; she believed in her students, letting them all know periodically she had great expectations for each one; and she seemed never to give up on any of them. She kept pushing and encouraging us, at the same time she was criticizing and guiding, until we gradually gained more and more confidence in ourselves.

I will never forget something she said to me quietly on the night of my graduation from Bowling Green High School. I do not recall the specific words she used, but the essence of her comment went something like this. "Chester, your mother and I have been pushing you hard during these last three years--pushing which you needed badly at times. But I'm now convinced you have developed your own self starter. I am also confident you will continue to initiate and do worthwhile things as well as you can, because you think they are important and should be done. I wish you well."

Chester C. Travelstead

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