I believe it was during my junior year that I was enrolled in Miss McDonald's English class. Here are a couple of memories. . .During one class, as a way to reinforce a concept that she obviously felt quite strongly about, she quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson's statement: "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." Not only do I still remember the concept she so indelibly impressed on our young minds, but I recall the powerful FEELING I had at the time, namely that attempting to make a real difference in her students' lives truly mattered to this particular teacher. It turns out that being aware of this reality about any person, teacher or not, matters much to me. Second, several years after I had graduated, I recall living in the area and thus being able to support one of my siblings at a special event, in this case going to an assembly at the endi of Homecoming Week at SPHS. when the announcement was to be made about who would be the Homecoming Queen that year. While I was standing in the back of the auditorium (where Miss McDonald was also standing), she said to me, quietly, "Lots of us are hoping that your sister, Kaye, wins ." (which honor, incidentally, this sister--Kaye Tanner Whitworth, Class of '75--did win.) On that day, I not only recall Katie's generosity of spirit in the way she congratulated the other two attendants with genuine, effulgent sincerithy, but it also pleased me to know that my former teacher really cared about my sister, and enough about me that she would take the initiative to communicate what she did to me. (NOTE: Shortly thereafter, I wrote Katie a poem related to my long-term, eternal perspectives about her triggered in my mind by this event: "HOMECOMING 1974") One additional recollection that directly has little to do with Miss McDonald's teaching, per se. . .I remember hearing that one thing my English teacher enjoyed doing when she was not teaching was fishing on beach shores. In hindsight, I suppose the awareness of this hobby of Marilyn McDonald helped me to expand my understanding of her as a real person--not simply as a teacher--more completely, (NOTE: Incidentally, this was the first time I recall actually reflecting on the idea that teachers, who happened to be single, rather than married, could experience many, many gratifying aspects of life unrelated to the marriage or family life experiences had by teachers who happened to be married. . .) At any rate, many decades later I've come to realize that for about as long as I can remember, I have felt that knowing more about a person--beyond the context in which we normally interact with them--is something I personally consider very worthwhile.
Tres Tanner (1966)
I believe it was during my junior year that I was enrolled in Miss McDonald's English class. Here are a couple of memories. . .During one class, as a way to reinforce a concept that she obviously felt quite strongly about, she quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson's statement: "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." Not only do I still remember the concept she so indelibly impressed on our young minds, but I recall the powerful FEELING I had at the time, namely that attempting to make a real difference in her students' lives truly mattered to this particular teacher. It turns out that being aware of this reality about any person, teacher or not, matters much to me. Second, several years after I had graduated, I recall living in the area and thus being able to support one of my siblings at a special event, in this case going to an assembly at the endi of Homecoming Week at SPHS. when the announcement was to be made about who would be the Homecoming Queen that year. While I was standing in the back of the auditorium (where Miss McDonald was also standing), she said to me, quietly, "Lots of us are hoping that your sister, Kaye, wins ." (which honor, incidentally, this sister--Kaye Tanner Whitworth, Class of '75--did win.) On that day, I not only recall Katie's generosity of spirit in the way she congratulated the other two attendants with genuine, effulgent sincerithy, but it also pleased me to know that my former teacher really cared about my sister, and enough about me that she would take the initiative to communicate what she did to me. (NOTE: Shortly thereafter, I wrote Katie a poem related to my long-term, eternal perspectives about her triggered in my mind by this event: "HOMECOMING 1974") One additional recollection that directly has little to do with Miss McDonald's teaching, per se. . .I remember hearing that one thing my English teacher enjoyed doing when she was not teaching was fishing on beach shores. In hindsight, I suppose the awareness of this hobby of Marilyn McDonald helped me to expand my understanding of her as a real person--not simply as a teacher--more completely, (NOTE: Incidentally, this was the first time I recall actually reflecting on the idea that teachers, who happened to be single, rather than married, could experience many, many gratifying aspects of life unrelated to the marriage or family life experiences had by teachers who happened to be married. . .) At any rate, many decades later I've come to realize that for about as long as I can remember, I have felt that knowing more about a person--beyond the context in which we normally interact with them--is something I personally consider very worthwhile.
(Tres Tanner, Class of '66)