I have retroactively dedicated today to the memory of Reida Drum

Bit of a setup here: right now the usual work is slow.  So I've been supplementing that as a substitute teacher.  The school year just started up here so there hasn't been too much assignment-wise going on.  For now though it is providing what I need.

And maybe, maybe, a little more.  Today I filled in for an assistant in a five-year kindergarten class.  It was awesome!!!  The teacher said that I did an amazing job!  She said she was definitely going to keep me in mind the next time they need a sub.  I absolutely LOVED it.  This is something I could spend the rest of my life doing.

Well, it was about 10 this morning that the teacher asked me if I'd like to read a book to the students, who are not called "students" but instead "friends" (hey it beats calling them "clients" like I did when I was at the mental health department *laugh out loud*).  So I went to the shelf and for whatever reason picked out a book called Get Out Of Bed!  It's about as girl who stays up watching television all night then falls asleep and refuses to wake up no matter what the family does to arouse her.  Great tale!  And the kids loved it when I made sound effects and different voices while I was reading it to them.  I read two more books to them before the day was over with.

So when the teacher asked me if I wanted to read a book to our little friends, the very first thing that popped into my mind was "What would Reida do?"

My dear friend Reida Drum, who passed away in 2012.  She came to mean a lot to me, but especially as an experienced educator who I drew wisdom from, and an inspiration for children.  Reida spent many years in the public school systems, and was still somewhat notorious for "scaring the hell" out of rowdy high school students (but that's exactly what superintendent Allan "Doc" Lewis hired her to do).  She later served several terms on the school board.  Indeed, she was one of the sixteen candidates who ran in that very strange board of education election in 2006 that I took part in also.  I knew from the moment I hear she had filed to run that she was practically guaranteed a seat.  And so she returned to education and performed an admirable service to the people of Rockingham County.

Here's why she came to mind this morning.  Reida was well known for visiting elementary schools and reading books to the students.  She would always go in wearing her fanciest hat and one of her many feather boas.  The kids called her "the Feather Lady".  And there is no telling how many youngsters she entertained in her role over the years.  She made a real act out of her reading.  The kids were enthralled.  And so it is that the Feather Lady entered into Rockingham County Schools legend.

So when the teacher this morning asked if I'd like to read a book to our own children, Reida Drum is who immediately crossed my mind.  And I instantly thought "What would Reida do?"  So I resolved to read to the children with just as much vigor and delight as Reida would have had.

I think it worked.  And I kind of shocked myself.  I'd thought that acting with different voices and sounds like that, and especially interacting with children much as I did when I was active in the theatre guild, was something that had been forever lost to me.  Just a few more things taken away, part of the cost of what it takes to have a mind not turned against me because of manic depression.  But I wasn't that at all today.  I was a kindergarten teacher, who was making the children think about things like how much their parents would be impressed when they said "may I please have" something at the dinner table, and now nice it is when they also said "may I be excused" and "thank you".  I taught them how to write the number 2, and how to make a lower-case "b".

I could make a lifetime career out of doing this.

Well, we'll see.  I'm subbing again tomorrow.  This time for a fourth-grade teacher.  I think this is going to be a most interesting experience to notch on my belt.  There may be some opportunity to teach a bit of history, if the teacher's plan allows for it.

But this day belongs to the memory of Reida Drum, who definitely inspired me to work with the kids.  And there are plenty more who I've known who might also inspire just as much.

(I promise I won't try to read "The Call of Cthulhu" to second graders though.  I won't do that again...)

Categories: education, in memory, reida drum, schools, substitute teaching