Blog N Tell

A Life-Changing Force: My Sixth Grade Teacher!
I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lived in Bond Hill. I started public school at Bond Hill Elementary on California Avenue. In the first grade I was sent to Oakley School on Madison Road. The Oakley School was for children in the Cincinnati system with learning and behavioral problems. I stuttered and had eye problems, reading problems, and behavioral issues. My parents were constant guests of my principal and teachers. In short, I was their nightmare!
We moved to Hamilton, and I was enrolled in Fillmore School on Main Street in the fall of 1950. We lived off Columbia Road in Columbia Heights. I rode the school bus to school and back home. After a few weeks in Mrs. Schmidt’s sixth grade class, my parents were summoned to school because of an altercation with a fellow student, failure to do assigned work, failure to participate in class, failure to stay on task, and finally disruptive to the class. Mrs. Schmidt, with my parents’ agreement, would keep me after school every day if I failed to do my assigned work, failed to stay on task, or created a discipline problem during class time. Mrs. Schmidt would make me do the assignments over and over until I would get them perfect even if it took hours. I would then walk home at 4 or 5pm. For weeks in the beautiful fall Ohio weather, I walked home and thought this was the greatest. I enjoyed many stops on the 2-plus-mile walk, getting ice cream, visiting friends, the playground, etc. I was living the dream! Then over the Thanksgiving break, Hamilton received a record snowfall, “A November to Remember.”
I walked home the next week on the snow-covered walks and arrived frozen. Living the dream then turned to “living a nightmare.” It was not fun any longer to stay after school. My interest in school and getting my work done, as Mrs. Schmidt expected, became my priority. She never expected less than my best for the remainder of the year. I obviously enjoyed her interest and faith in me that I could do more than was expected of me in the past.
Sheldon Davis