Teachers Pet, I wish...

I seldom watch entertainment news programs. You know the ones, ET, The Insider, E! Then of course the general gossip segments on other shows. People like being involved in the lives of the “Rich and Famous”, if only from an observational point of view. Ask a Psychologist why, I’m just here to comment on something I saw on one....

Photo Courtesy: Fernando Audibert, Stock_xchng.com

One of the people around the table on “The Insider“ held up a magazine entitled Artillery, a magazine about art, based in Los.Angeles. The cover story for this issue, about photography, featured young girls whose mothers enter them in those “Little Miss-whatever contests”. Packed with images of girls the “mature” side of three, dressed, made-up, and posed to look, I guess, like their mothers hope they will at 18 years. I was amazed that one of the mothers though it necessary to inform the reporter, thongs were not allowed in the swimsuit section of the contest. Swimsuits, paraded by little girls, what are they thinking? Being a father with no daughters I can say with confidence “no girl of mine will ever go out looking like that” be she 3, 13 or 30. Let me get off the soap box now and tell you why I started writing this. The Insider story reminded me of something that happened many years ago.

I was about 11 maybe 12 when Miss. Shaw became my science teacher. She was in her mid 20’s; to her youthful male students she was a kind of, well, angel. Tall, slim, blond hair, short for those days, she was the inspiration that made puberty worth the effort. When she had her back to the window and the sun streamed in she was wrapped in golden... Young enough for her enthusiasm for teaching to still inspire her students, she would talk about many things during the class. The subject still got taught but we learned other things as well. Some teachers make kids sit in the same seat for every lesson, Miss Shaw didn’t, and I can’t remember anyone ever being late for her class. Those who got to the front seats first could feel the envy drilling through their backs, but they didn’t care. Even the girls liked her; she had a way of making them feel important, part of some special “girl” club. She was a good teacher and she had that "something" the other teaches didn’t.

That day Miss Shaw had brought a photo album to class with her, it wasn’t until later I learned why she had asked only the girls up to her desk to have a look. She did it on purpose, the girls looked at us guys with distain and giggles, they were in the know, and we weren’t. But Miss Shaw did not forget her biggest fans. She shared with the whole class at last, but kept some of the photos at the back of the album closed.

You see, Miss Shaw was a grown up “Little Miss.” having been brought up in the beauty pageant religion. From a young age she had travelled with her mother from city to city following the circuit. The album contained her childhood memories. From toddler to, as it turned out, school teacher age, she had walked the stage. There were photos of her collection of trophies, her ribbons and tiaras. Formal dresses, theme costumes, and of course, the swimsuit competitions. Best of all were the photos from last weekend’s contest, Miss Shaw was still active. Being in Northern Alabama, Miss Shaw had chosen a cotton boll as her theme costume. The large round papier-mâché ball with green leaves around the neck, and fluffy white cotton balls glued on was fine, but looked a little awkward; the best part was her long legs extending from the bottom of the papier-mâché.

I guess the contest circuit hadn’t done too much damage to Miss Shaw over the years. She seemed to enjoy participating and said she would continue for a while longer, of course in the “Big Miss.” section. She turned out to be engaged to some lucky guy, sad isn’t it? Could her pastime be considered the same as a kid spending his/her weekends playing a sport? Don’t know, I suppose it’s all about participating in life, at least the mothers got involved, hopefully not for their personal satisfaction. Miss Shaw gained pride and self respect plus all those memories. I’m still not sure I approve of the whole pageant thing, but then they don’t need or want my approval.                                                

                                                                                                                                             Photo Courtesy: John Burke, Flickr.com

The photos at the back of the album? One of the girls later told me, they were some of Miss Shaws more revealing costumes. The images that thought created only made her seem more intriguing, until.

It seemed longer, but class was only a few minutes old when Miss Shaw was interrupted, the caretaker brought in a heavy 44 gallon drum on a trolley. With enthusiasm she announced that today we would have the pleasure of dissecting frogs. As she opened the drum and the incredible smell permeated the room, we quickly forgot beauty contests and went for the scalpels. After all we were there to learn. For some reason Miss Shaw lost a little of her charm that day, with a smile she reached into the formaldehyde and pulled out a very substantial Rana Catesbiana, after all, she was there to teach.

JAWhite

Sept. 2009                                                             Returm to Main Page