Tony was one when we moved from Logan to Monroe. We moved on this birthday. Wayne R Paul helped us pack my parents' pickup. We could fit everything we owned into the pickup bed and the Renault. I recall as we left town thinking how much I would miss where I'd grown up.
We moved from Monroe to Panaca on Paul's first birthday. We used my dad's pickup and a rented U-Haul trailer. I made three trips between Monroe and Panaca on July 31st to avoid mileage charges on the trailer (local only). The 4th trip was in the pickup and the Renault late at night. We stopped at Cedar Breaks to see the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers Club with their homemade telescopes. While Tony and Paul slept, Venice and I watched the stars and moon.
Tony was born in Logan. Paul was born in Richfield. Bryan was born in St. George. We covered the state with their births though Nevada was home.
Tony loved to play with Matchbox cars. He would line them up, keep them clean, and organized them. It may be that Matchbox cars were all we could afford at first. I still give my sons Matchbox cars for Christmas each year. Tony also loved books. Still does. I hope he writes a great one soon.
Paul liked war toys and transformers. He would play for hours in the dirt, burying vehicles, making roads, etc. Electronic games attracted him too. To avoid conflicts at Christmas time, we bought two of everything. Later, with Bryan aboard it became three of everything.
Bryan liked to be outdoors. He never seemed to mind the weather. He was as brown-skinned a kid as you'd ever see. I'm not sure it was all dirt. Bryan liked his trike then Big Wheel and the freedom it afforded him on the street where we lived. It was a dirt street at the time he was little.
I love my sons and wish we could all be together more often. They are the joy in my life. My heart aches for them out of desire to see and be with them.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Teaching school
I was hired to be the junior high special education teacher in the newly combined Lincoln County Junior/Senior High. Until that time, the elementary schools were 1-8 in Pioche, Panaca, and Caliente. Kindergarten was a pay-as-you-can service offered on the cheap at those same schools without being "officially" part of the district. Tony and Paul went to Kindergarten this way. By the time Bryan was old enough, Kindergarten was a district-wide program.
Jim Hill was hired at the same time to teach the high school special ed students. He had been at C.O. Bastain beforehand (then called the Girls' School). We shared a classroom with two offices on the west end of an old barracks building leftover from Test Site days. (It's the old wood shop building - now band room.) The Nevada Fish and Game and Lincoln County Senior Citizens shared the building with us using other offices. Carol Hansen was the Special Ed aide, and a great aide she was. She worked hard to help kids with their studies, maintained excellent discipline, and helped keep Jim and I in line as we learned the ropes. She was taken away too often to help in the office and elsewhere: good for her, not so good for us.
My first batch of students were difficult to deal with and I didn't have the skills to keep them in check. I remember asking Mr. Nelson Lorell Bleak for help, and he brought a program to the school called Assertive Discipline. It helped immensely to have something to fall back on. While the kids didn't like me more, they did behave better. Early first students included: Michelle Huerta, Kelly Simper, Renea Tice, Philip Cardinal, Alan Kramer, Ernie Emerine, and others. Little-by-little I learned and they learned what was expected and how to get there. I still visit with some of these same students on Facebook. They've grown up and I've grown old.
I had taught 3rd grade students in Monroe, UT then 3rd through 6th grade special ed students in Monroe. Elementary-age students are more trusting and easier to control than junior high students. High school students were different still. I was appointed to be the 7th grade advisor with the promise I'd move with the students from grade-to-grade until they graduated. It never happened. Instead, I was the 7th grade advisor year after year. I resented I was told one thing and another done - a pattern that would persist for decades.
Jim Hill was hired at the same time to teach the high school special ed students. He had been at C.O. Bastain beforehand (then called the Girls' School). We shared a classroom with two offices on the west end of an old barracks building leftover from Test Site days. (It's the old wood shop building - now band room.) The Nevada Fish and Game and Lincoln County Senior Citizens shared the building with us using other offices. Carol Hansen was the Special Ed aide, and a great aide she was. She worked hard to help kids with their studies, maintained excellent discipline, and helped keep Jim and I in line as we learned the ropes. She was taken away too often to help in the office and elsewhere: good for her, not so good for us.
My first batch of students were difficult to deal with and I didn't have the skills to keep them in check. I remember asking Mr. Nelson Lorell Bleak for help, and he brought a program to the school called Assertive Discipline. It helped immensely to have something to fall back on. While the kids didn't like me more, they did behave better. Early first students included: Michelle Huerta, Kelly Simper, Renea Tice, Philip Cardinal, Alan Kramer, Ernie Emerine, and others. Little-by-little I learned and they learned what was expected and how to get there. I still visit with some of these same students on Facebook. They've grown up and I've grown old.
I had taught 3rd grade students in Monroe, UT then 3rd through 6th grade special ed students in Monroe. Elementary-age students are more trusting and easier to control than junior high students. High school students were different still. I was appointed to be the 7th grade advisor with the promise I'd move with the students from grade-to-grade until they graduated. It never happened. Instead, I was the 7th grade advisor year after year. I resented I was told one thing and another done - a pattern that would persist for decades.
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