It's Throwback Thursday and since one of my old schoolmates posted a class photo of when I was in 5th grade I thought I'd blog about it.
5th Grade was a big year for me. It was my first year of many that I lived and went to school in San Marcos, just south of here. I ended up going to the rest of my grade, middle, and high school in San Marcos and then stayed for college at Palomar. I think that pretty much makes San Marcos my home town, even though I haven't lived there in many years now.
My teacher was an imposing figure. As you can see in the photo Mr. Shields was a big man, former marine, and had a loud bellowing voice- when he raised it, you listened. If you were not paying attention while he was talking or looked away, it was very possible you got a chalkboard eraser thrown at you. Mr. Shields also had a crazy colored partition that would separate anyone who disturbed the class. If you got put behind that it was called "Sending you to Siberia"....
This was something I got known for....I spent more days "in Siberia" than any other student that year.
Now it sounds at first like Mr. Shields was a tyrant... but he was actually an excellent teacher and was very helpful if you asked any questions. He also had a class competition whereas whomever got the best grades for the year got to go out on his sailboat with our parents.
A young student named Mary Lewis and I were the only two students who got straight A's the entire year. (yes I was a bit of a nerd at this stage of my childhood), so Mr. Shields took us and our mom's out sailing for the day. Who knew all these years later sailing would be one of my main interests....
If I was participating in our "Thank A Teacher" progam, I'd certainly would nominate Mr. Shields.
You can nominate your favorite teacher to win $5,000 in supplies at
www.iHeartRadio.com/Teachers
1 of 2 Photo: Picasa
2 of 2