Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

My writing career has been nurtured by women. The first I remember was Miss Dorrety. She was my seventh grade English teacher. She was a lovely girl just out of school and in her first year of teaching. She placed an emphasis on creative writing. The first day of class we were required to write a short essay describing ourselves. Standard seventh grade drill for the first day of school.

I must have written something clever because I watched her light up when she read it. For the rest of the year I was her pet. She was a little harder on me about my grammar and construction than she was on the other students, she circled my many misspelled words, but she also took time to help me develop my talent as a creative writer. Also she gave me consistent A's. I had a terrible crush on her of course, but that was my adolescent problem.

As a sophomore in high school I signed up for journalism 101. The journalism teacher was Audrey Tandy. She was a very folksy, unassuming woman somewhere in her early forties. She was beautiful in a Susan Sarandon sort of way. She was an award winning journalist and had settled down in Abilene with her family to teach school. She was the faculty sponsor of The Abilene High School Battery, our award winning school paper.

We had great rapport from the start. We were both jokers and she appreciated the sophomoric irreverence of my writing. I can't describe how she encouraged me, no she even indulged me in my peculiar writing methods. She taught me the nuts and bolts of journalism.

I never called her Audrey, always Ms. Tandy. Over the next couple of years, even though we became good friends, we always maintained the student-teacher relationship as well.

At the end of my sophomore year Ms. Tandy put me on the Battery staff as an editorial writer. During the summer, she got me an internship at the Abilene Reporter News and then she appointed me managing editor of the Battery in my junior year. She was a wonderful mentor and she believed in my work.

Halfway through my junior year, it came time for submissions to the Texas HS Press Association's writing contest. Without my knowledge, Ms. Tandy entered some of my articles and also examples of the humor column that I wrote. I won first place in column writing and placed in the other categories. It was a great thrill for a young writer.

Nothing produces better results in the life of an artist than encouragement. I feel so lucky to have been nurtured by such gracious and lovely teachers.

What did your early teachers mean to you?

T'is true that teachers can be very influential to us.
Believe it or not, the first teacher I can remember was Mr. McCain! He taught in Port Townsend Wa, I was in the 5th grade. He assigned us to write a composition, and he chose mine to read aloud to the class because he said it was so good. We were supposed to write about what we liked to do on rainy days, and I wrote a little paper about how I liked to write letters on rainy days, try to write to the beat of the raindrops.
Another teacher I had in High School, at a private school I was sent to. Her name was Lyris Hyatt and she was a great mentor to me, for 2 years while I attended that private school, from which I graduated.
She always told me that I was a good writer, and encouraged me to go to writers workshops and stuff. I've always shied away from those though...
Yeah, our influences never cease. I mean, I have found many a good teacher right here at the studio! You LRod, being one of them.....
H

my second grade teacher Mirta: she used to write in the cuaderno "you are a great writer". I found it very tender, later!
my sixth and seventh grade Social Sciences teacher Stella, so free, with great sense of humor, telling us about hers trips & readings (she was a great oral narrator!!)
my seventh year natural sciences teacher, he was very funny and very young. He´s still a teacher now, I use to cross him in courses and movilizations. He´s still funny!!!!. He always remembers my name, I sistematically forget his!!!!
my catequesis teacher in the last years of primary school, she was only eight years older than us and she happened to be the sister of the most beautiful (for me) boy in the neighborhood!!!!!! We are still in contact thanks movilizations and courses.
my history teacher in third year of High School: first time I really met argentine history, she was amazing, there were amazing times!!!!
my physics teacher in fourth year, High School: bussiness school, humanities personal tendencies, zero hard sciences formation. He was half a philosopher and reaching the fourties (totally nerd aspect). I loved him!!!!!
my literature teacher in fourth year, High School: very old and calm, she borrows me a lot of books of her personal library!!!!!!!!
my italian literature professor in the university: he loved cinema, me too!!!!!!!
my medieval literature professor in the university: he loved history, me too!!!!!!!!
my iberoamerican-literature professor in the university. She was also a great oral narrator. After her classes I felt like being in Chiapas talking with Netzahualcoyotl and doing the cuban revolution!

creative writing...mmm.......no idea!!!!!!

My first grade teacher, Miss Massey, shot herself in the head when I was in second grade.
Want me to go on?
My kindergarten teacher, Ms. Yost, went on to become the wife of the superintendent of schools.
My fifth (or was it sixth?) grade teacher, Mrs. McCann, had me read in front of the class the first poem I ever wrote..."Have you heard of Hampton Roads/Where two ships fought with lethal loads?"

I owe everything to my teachers.

Peace,
Barry
PS: My wife is a teacher. And the best one I've ever had. They change worlds.

The only teacher I liked in college taught a class on zen in america, and me and another student got to lead a class on Dharma Bums for two days. We learned some on the beats, we read Being Peace, and other stuff. I used to think this guy was offbeat and was lucky to teach in the curriculum. He was forced to retire early cause they got rid of the major he taught in. I wish I coulda been there to do some sort of "o captain my captain" thing, but I've taken some time off from school.
In the younger yrs, any art or English teacher I've had. I went to a different school almost every yr, so I don't remember all their names. Just I didn't hate the subjects. One in 9th grade had us read a lot of Shakespeare and such. Oh yeah, my 12th grade teacher in England, Phelps. Mostly we just did art but for two days he stopped the class and made us watch the Wall ( pink floyd, not the wall in class) I emailed him 10 yrs later to tell him how much I enjoyed it, as our old school was being torn down. He was starting a new school. I told him please let them watch the Wall, like we did.

Zeh End

I can't remember her name. But she made reading "The Crucible" all the more enjoyable!!!! I thank her for that!!!!
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