middlesex junior high and teachers and wilnor weck and kronewitter and bonnie foster

As I think of it today, Middlesex Junior High was probably inaptly named. To be sure, the word has deep roots in New England history, perhaps none more prominent than in Longfellow's famous poem, "Paul Revere's Ride," where Paul went riding "Through every middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm." But to put together hundreds of gender-confused 12-15 year-olds in one huge building and call it Middlesex--well, you can imagine the stories that were told. I also think the gymnasium had an unfortunate appellation--the Belcher Gym. We gender-challenged boys would, at the end of and even during gym class, try to outdo each other in that activity which seemingly, to us, was confirmed by the name of the gym. Too bad for Mr. Belcher, whom I am sure was a distinguished citizen of the town. I wonder to what extent when the gym was dedicated in his honor that people already knew it would be the subject of future jibes.

Seventh Grade Spanish

My best teacher in the three years of Junior High was my 7th grade Spanish teacher, Miss McGoldrick. She was new when I was new, and Spanish instruction was new that year, too. Darien had been a "French only" town, at least at the Junior High Level, but for some wonderful reason the school board decided to begin Spanish instruction in Fall 1964 at Middlesex. I, a reluctant student, remember being drawn in by her energy, drive and love for the language. She gave us Spanish names the first day of class (I was Guillermo, of course), and from then on it was drilling, and speaking, and listening and reading. We spoke and recorded our words at the language lab, and she insisted that we learn to speak Spanish (Castilian Spanish, that is) with as little an accent as possible. She believed that Spanish was the most beautiful language in the world, and that if we took the time to study it we would be opening new worlds for ourselves. I actually continued Spanish only though 10th grade, but it gave me such a good foundation in the language that when I went to Honduras in 1995 with a bunch of veterinarians from TX on a mission trip, I ended up being the "translator" at our makeshift medical clinic for all-comers in the impoverished town of Siguatepeque. I felt I learned Spanish much better in those years than when I learned German, and I studied in Germany during my doctoral work. All of this is, I believe, thanks to the dedication and passion of Miss McGoldrick.

Other Teachers--Mrs. Weck, ; Mr. Kronewitter; Miss Foster

I had Mrs. Weck for 8th grade Algebra, and even though she was the only teacher up to that point who gave me less than an A in math (I got an A-), I think of her as the best math teacher I ever had. I remember her not only because of her demanding style, her thorough treatment of algebra and a slight problem with her sight (that gave you the feeling she was looking straight through you when you was talking to you), but also because of her first name: Wilnor. Have you ever heard the name Wilnor Weck before? I did an Internet search on that name, and found it in Florida; perhaps she is retired there now, since I can't imagine two such persons.

Mr. Kronewitter taught 7th grade Social Studies, as it was known in those days. It was one of those "survey the world"-types of classes, though I think we only "covered" the Western world. But the course, as I recall, was a sort of "Fertile Crescent to 1960" course. The thing that I remember about his class was the word lists he handed out. At the beginning of every large unit (ancient Egypt or early Modern Europe, for example), he would give us a single page listing of about 25 terms we had to know. The reason I recall this is that I remember the last items on two of the lists. He wanted us to learn who "Hatshepsut" and "Tutankhaman" were for Egypt, and he wanted us not to leave early Modern Europe without knowing about the "Hanseatic League." The fact that I recall the last entries on the list in 2006 may be significant: even now when I read books, I always begin with the last chapter or the last few pages and then work backwards. I think I may have started that practice long ago. Just as there aren't two Wilnor Weck's, I doubt if there are tons of Kronewitters around. I ran into one of them in the late 1980s in the Portland area, and he turned out to be Mr. Kronewitter's son. Large world.

Finally, Miss Bonnie Foster was the teacher I tormented the most. She was a new teacher in 1966-67, and I had her for 9th grade Latin. Maybe I wanted to destroy her newly-minted enthusiasm for teaching, though I don't think so, since I was enthralled by Miss McGoldrick's teaching of Spanish in 7th grade. I think I just spotted some first-year vulnerability and decided to try to exploit it. I never worked hard at Latin, but for some reason believed I should receive an A+ for just showing up. I was completely chagrined and even mortified to receive a C+ from Miss Foster in the first grading period. Amid dire parental warnings regarding how this would compromise my future success and enjoyment in life, I spent a weekend memorizing every Latin form in the book. I recall putting on such a dazzling display of Latin learning after the weekend that I actually embarrassed myself in class. Seems like I was either completely "on" or "off" in the class. Nevertheless, I began to love languages through the study of Latin.

Conclusion

Middlesex Junior High School offered me an education that was, if not unparalled for public schools, almost unique in the range and quality of its offerings. But school was much more than classes, as everyone knows. My final two essays deal with people and sports.

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