Teaching Tip #141

Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #141

Inspiration (Part 2)

     It was the fourth week of my freshmen year in high school.  We had a new English teacher added to the faculty that year, Amy Christianson.  She had sandy blonde hair, an armada of cardigan sweaters and skirts, and a slender frame.  Mrs. Christianson was also in her first or second year teaching, so she still had some blood pumping in her, unlike the older teachers I was used to who seemed to come out of moth balls or formaldehyde every September and return at the end of May.

     Why do well in school?  I thought.  It was boring.  I just need to get C's so I could play sports.  After all, I didn't need to know the presidents, geometric formulas, and the periodic table to drive a truck, farm, or work at the beet plant .

        While school was torture, there was one thing I enjoyed: books.  Well, horror books.  In grade school I read the usual Hardy Boy's mysteries and a couple of Louis Lamour yarns, but nothing really grabbed my attention. Then I discovered Stephen King.  His novels lead me to other writers like Anne Rice, Clive Barker, and Richard Matheson. Soon I was devouring more books than our small public library could order.