She was inspired to become a teacher after volunteering in her own children’s classrooms. You might say she got in through the back door since she didn’t begin pursuing this path until much later than most. She already had her Bachelor’s degree, so she sought her credential and got it finished in a year.
She began working as a substitute teacher pinpointing several districts for a future position. Then she moved from the fully integrated city into the deep woods. It was a culture shock. Each school district was unique. When she would meet kids in the store or out shopping, she could tell which school district they came from by what they called her.
- If they called her Mrs. Laff and were from mixed ethnic groups, they were from the City School.
- If they were blonde and blue eyed and called her Mrs. Laforge, they were from G-ville.
- If they called her just plain Lulu, they were from the River School.
- If they called her Mrs. Lu they were from Brigadoon.
The whole family was actually in culture shock when they moved up north to the river because all the kids seemed to be so white. Seriously! They couldn’t even tell them apart! They had come from the City where everyone was so culturally mixed. It was a surprise and somewhat of a disappointment that everyone was white. Mono-culture, they just didn’t expect it. But as it turned out they discovered that there were indeed various cultures living together in the small wooded community. There were the old time logging families, the Hippies, Gays, and… “Don’t forget the Italians.”
She was hired as a middle school teacher after answering the interview question: “What was the significance of nature to the Native Americans?”
She didn’t really think the interview team knew the answer to the question that had been written on the board by the previous teacher. She thought they were asking applicants this question in the hopes that someone could actually answer it. She also thought they were both stoned.
“It was their religion,” she began. She was intending to launch into a full fledged lecture on everything from acorns to buffalo hides, but they looked at each other with the, “She’s hired!” sign in their eyes and she was assigned to teach 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th grades, “…and I won’t do 3rd!” was her standard joke.
She split that combination with another teacher who was her treasured partner for many years. She taught everything: History, Health, PE, Math, Humanities, English, History, Speech, Drama, Computer skills, Art, Outdoor Ed, and anything else they could lay on her. Her partner taught Science and all other subjects as well.
Daily drive up the tree-lined highway
to Brigadoon each morning…Listening to soft music on the radio,
enjoying the kind of a drive you’d take
on a Sunday afternoon…Watching for Blue Herons standing in the creek,
or wood ducks nestled in a curve of the pristine water –
flowing turquoise over a sandy rock lined bottom.Towering redwoods overhead
their shredded bark marking the road…
more like a wooded path than a highway.
Brigadoon gets 90-120 inches of rain per year and sometimes that creek would be a rushing torrent of water that could terrify. A couple of times she did have to turn back and call in saying there was a downed tree across the road or the road was gone… fallen in the creek. They always knew that there was the possibility every year for a couple of “snow days.”
Pulling into the parking lot to the cheers and welcoming faces of the students she loved and who loved her… watching the morning fog lift from the surrounding hills was her Brigadoon 182 days per year. When she knew she was going to be laid off, she just relished every moment. She imprinted her brain with the fragrance and spectacle of the towering woods surrounding her.
Breathing in the fresh air…
watching the raven pair that lived in the old oak tree in the yard,
absorbing the moon and the star-filled night sky
There was a giant three story slide that led down into the lower play ground. She loved to watch the kids from her perch above at their games down below. Sometimes she would take the CD player down and have them walk or run laps while they listened to some school appropriate music. Other times they would play baseball, basketball, football, or kick ball… always a ball!
One tearful night when the reality of the lay off was imminent, her husband said to her, “You know you’re going to live a really long time…because all those kids are going to remember you and talk about you to their kids. You’re going to live a really long time.” And that’s something, isn’t it?
Still she dreams of Brigadoon. She is always doing yard duty, looking at the sky, and hearing laughter… #Brigadoon.
(First published September 27, 2011)
