Friendly Persuasion

Friendly Persuasion

With my new philosophy major I started teaching
at Buckingham Friends outside New Hope, Pa in
Bucks County—a 200 year old meeting house and
adjacent stone school.

Had  a fireplace in my room where for 3 years I
roasted weenies and marshmallows, played chess
during recess, taught  the 7^th and 8^th graders
English,  Social Studies, Religion. and coached the
boys soccer team.

Work Program. Grounds & halls. Policing & polishing.

Monday mornings on old wooden benches we sat in

silent meeting waiting the divine spark to do it’s business:

stimulus package projecting some 4^th grader maybe to

stand and deliver a treatise on the dogwood blossom,

say—it’s significance in spring time.

Tuesday: all grades gathered in Margie Rowe’s room

where Peter, the Principal, played piano and we sang

hymn and camp songs to start the day.

In mid March, the Principal would often rush the
rooms, shifting first period to 6tth (gym) so we
could all godown to the pond and play hockey while
the ice wasstill morning-firm.

We watched the Cuban Crisis in the 6 grade room of

Betty Haines:  iron gray hair, a chest that would hold

a tea set. She claimed you got to spankem and huggem

and still talked in "thee’s" and "thou’s" and would tear-up
when talking to parents.

I was conducting hobby class in Nov.—us sitting around
strumming banjos and picking guitars to Down in the
Valley, when Jon Weiner opened the door crying,  and
crying: "Kennedy’s been shot!"

7 years later ( 2 years teaching high school in Durham,
3 getting Phdegreed at Duke, and another couple
learning  young professionalism in the Eng Dept at
NC State), I ended up fortuitously if not providentially
here at Warren Wilson thinking I shall never cease
from exploration but the end of my exploring will be
to arrive at where I started and know the place
for the first time.