Storymania - Final Farewell by Emily S

Final Farewell
Emily S

Tonight is the night of Tower Hill High School’s last graduation. Today is my last day as a high school student. To be honest, I’m scared half to death right now. I’m not afraid that my education from Tower Hill won’t be good enough; I’m afraid that I won’t be good enough without the ones who educated me at Tower Hill. From my first day of Kindergarten to my last day as a senior, my teachers have helped me become who I am today, and who I will become in the future.

I don’t remember much about Mrs. Kehias. I do remember that she was my favorite teacher when I was in grade school. She taught me how to hold a pencil the right way. I’m sure she’s the reason I have such beautiful handwriting. She also gave me a hug every time I wanted one (which was probably two or three times a day, and we only went to school for a half a day back then). The Kindergarten classroom was a better place because of her!

Mrs. Foster was harder than Mrs. Kehias was. I didn’t keep count, but I’m sure my name was “mud” a few times. The sound of Mrs. Foster’s voice alone was enough to scare any first grader straight, though! Five years ago I had a poem published in the Decatur paper, and Mrs. Foster sent me a card to congratulate me. I’ll never forget how special I felt when I read her card.

I remember a little more about Mrs. Hardin. I remember on the first day of second grade, we all gave Mrs. Hardin hugs as we were lined up to go home. I remember I tried to give her a kiss, and she reminded me that she wasn’t my mother! Mrs. Hardin taught me that short-cuts don’t always work. As second graders, Mrs. Hardin wanted us to write numbers 1-100, 1-500, and 1-1000. I wrote numbers 1-105 and turned it in to Mrs. Hardin as 1-500. She sent me back to my desk and told me not to try any more short-cuts! Now Mrs. Hardin always tells me I’m a “sweet girl.” She still gives me hugs, too.

For some reason, Mrs. McElroy scared me, but that’s about all I remember about her. I think she kept us disciplined, because I remember her yelling more than the other teachers. I guess she thought that by third grade, we could handle a raised voice. I remember she was another one of my favorites, but I don’t remember a specific reason why.

Mrs. Swiney scared me, too. In fourth grade I started to slack on doing my homework. Mrs. Swiney made me take home an assignment sheet to have my parents sign stating that they had seen that I had my homework done. If it weren’t for that assignment sheet, I probably would have had even more homework assignments that never got turned in. My life would have been a lot easier if I’d had assignment sheets in high school!

I had some trouble in fifth grade. Mr. Eversole was my first male teacher, and he really scared me! He’s the teacher that taught us how to take notes. He also made me take home an assignment sheet, as Mrs. Swiney did.

Mrs. Neimerg only taught me for one year of junior high, and I didn’t ever read any of the stories she assigned us for English, but she taught me the ropes of the internet and I really don’t know what I would do without my e-mail skills!

Mrs. Spears was always there to talk to. I didn’t have her for homeroom in junior high, but she was always there to listen to the students if we weren’t afraid of her! I think a lot of the students were afraid of her.

I was scared half to death of Mrs. Oller! I think that was because I didn’t turn in any math homework for most of my three years of junior high. When I tell her about my math grade now, she smiles and tells me she knew I could do it.

Mr. Bender was everybody’s favorite teacher. I really hated science, but Mr. Bender had a way of making everything fun. He was always either talking about sports, or telling a joke. He kept us awake by smacking our desks with a ruler. I’ll never forget how he cried at our eighth grade graduation.

Mrs. Rodman was another fun teacher. History was different from all of our other classes because instead of being expected to read the assignment on our own time, or having the assignment read to us, Mrs. Rodman made us read it out loud in class.

Mrs. Cole has always been one of my favorites. She’s been there for me when I’ve needed hugs, and I’ve been there to give her hugs. She listens to me when things are driving me crazy, and I listen to her when certain students are driving her crazy. Mrs. Cole made me realize just how much I love singing, and she’s helped me improve my sound. She let me sing the National Anthem at basketball games, and she gave me solos for every concert I asked. She was even patient with me about picking out Christmas songs!

In junior high, I was afraid of Miss McGavic. Now that I’ve known her for several years, she’s become one of my favorite teachers. When I have problems with kids at schools I can always go down to Miss McGavic’s room, and talk to her about it. I’ve told Miss McGavic things that I’d never dreamt I’d ever tell a teacher. She’s never made me feel bad or guilty about my problems; she just offers all of the advice she can give, and tries to make me feel better about everything. In a way, Miss McGavic has kind of been like a wise older sister to me. She’s even there to listen (and talk) when I just want to gossip about a good-looking guy!

Mrs. Davis taught me science my freshman and sophomore years. I don’t remember much, since she’s been gone this year, but I know she wasn’t afraid to be serious with her students. Mrs. Davis kept me in line when I tried to act tough in front of other students. If I tried to pretend that I didn’t care, she’d kindly tell me that I’d better care! Mrs. Davis caught a glimpse of my changes first hand in her classroom.

Mrs. Bernahl taught math my freshman year. She must have really worked miracles on me, because I got a B- in math that year, and I had flunked math all three years before that.

Mr. Schollenbruch only taught one year at Tower Hill, but that one year was enough to flunk me for a semester of History. Mr. Schollenbruch put up with a lot from me! I remember the first day I was in his class, I told him I was wearing my glasses so I could see if he was as good looking as all of the girls had said he was.

Mr. Kerley put up with me quite a bit, also. My junior year, he put up with me for two classes. One of those classes, I had already taken (but flunked), so I thought that I already knew everything. Mr. Kerley taught me otherwise.

Mrs. Thompson’s taught me that no matter how much I complain, I still have to do my math! I tried everything possible to get out of doing my homework. I think Mrs. Thompson is disappointed in me because I’m going to school for child care instead of studying something with computers.

Mr. Wilson was lucky enough to never have to teach me in his class. Being a class sponsor, however, he was able to accompany us on our junior/senior trip. Mr. Wilson also got an earful from me about the computers not working. “It’s not the computer,” he’d tell me, “It’s the user.” Many times, during journalism, I would go to Mr. Wilson’s room to complain about the server being down.

I was only in one of Mrs. Frazier’s classes, but she brought out the journalist in me. She was always giving me ideas on topics to write about. Whenever I’d turn in a paper, she’d encourage me to write another one. Even before I started my freshman year, I knew I wanted to take journalism.

When I was in Mrs. Rincker’s class, I really didn’t like her! I even failed a semester of her English class. She kept watch over me, and she always let my parents know when I was doing something wrong. I think that’s why I didn’t like her--she was too much like a mother to me while I was at school. Now that that’s all over with, I realize that without Mrs. Rincker constantly surveying my actions, I would have been worse off than I am.

Ms. Petersen and I have really been through a lot over the past few years. I’ve been able to talk to Ms. Petersen about anything, and at any time. All I had to do was ask, and she’d write me a pass to come talk to her. I remember sitting in the hallway talking to her a few times, even when she was supposed to be teaching a class. That was before I was in any of her classes. I was kind of afraid of her then. Actually, I’m kind of afraid of her now! I probably wouldn’t be quite so afraid of her if I’d turn in my homework on time, however. It wasn’t quite an assignment sheet, but Ms. Petersen alerted my parents when I fell behind this year, and that helped me catch up again.

Freshman year, I was scared to death of Mr. Maxedon. I’d been warned how much he hated freshmen, and I was the only freshman in my P.E. Class! I’ve never gotten an A in any of his classes, especially not P.E. (after all, Mr. Maxedon says I look like a camel in heat when I do push-ups), and definitely not Driver’s Ed. (I think I spent a year and a half in that class)! My sophomore year I was with Mr. Maxedon all morning. For my first four classes, I had P.E., Health, his study hall, and Driver’s Ed. At the time, I thought it was going to kill me! Since then, I’ve realized that there’s nothing scary about Mr. Maxedon at all. Well, except his driving, anyway! On the junior/senior trip, Mr. Maxedon was our chauffer. We teased him endlessly about his driving. Mr. Maxedon kept me in Driver’s Ed. as long as possible. I was sure it was because he hated me and he didn’t want me to have the privilege of getting my license. Now I’m sure it was because he was afraid for his life (and mine) if I was going to be driving alone! Since I’ve had my license, I’ve been pulled over three times. Mr. Maxedon says that every time my license is scanned, his name pops up as my Driver’s Ed. teacher! At least that was only three stops, and not three car wrecks. Mr. Maxedon was my guiding light when I was in the dark. When he called me at the hospital, I knew he wasn’t just a mean mutant-alien teacher from the movie The Faculty. Mr. Maxedon made being in Tower Hill High School an unforgettable experience. From listening to Paul Harvey in the Driver’s Ed. car, to looking at men in thongs on the beach in Daytona, I’ll never forget a moment spent with Mr. Maxedon. The other day as I was cleaning out my locker for the end of the school year, Mr. Maxedon told me, “All I want from you before you leave is a hug.” That brought tears to my eyes.

My teachers at Tower Hill have made me who I am. That’s why I’m not afraid to say I’ll graduate from Tower Hill High School. My education is just as good as it would have been had I gone to any other school. I know of no other school where the teachers are like family to the students. The Tower Hill Tigers, once endangered, will soon become extinct, but my Tower Hill pride will never die.