Childhood: A Collection of Teacher Experiences

Ms. Caballero lived in Old Havana, Cuba, for twenty-six years, from the time she was three up until her second marriage. As a child, she grew up in an old hotel that had become an apartment for many families after the Cuban Revolution. The rooms were small and the staircases were used as a playground for the children living in the building. Ms. Caballero played hide and seek with her friends and j...

Mr. Greene referred to his young self as a “jack of all trades.” He got himself involved in all sorts of activities at school from football to competitive public speaking to drama. Greene was the pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and in the production he wore a one piece sequin jumpsuit with a cape— a highlight of his high school career. Mr. Greene shared that one of t...

Ms. Valentine’s parents were convinced that she would grow up to be a singing marine biologist who rescued sea otters after she fell in love with some otters during a day at the aquarium. When she was little, Ms. Valentine was extremely shy. "When I talked to anybody, my face would turn bright red,” she said. Nowadays Ms. Valentine sees herself as much more outgoing, but she still hasn’t changed i...

“When there were rules, I broke them regularly,” Ms. O’Brien said with a smile as she recalled her childhood. “We had a lot of freedom as kids...we could kind of do whatever we wanted.” Growing up, Ms. O’Brien was a lot more self-conscious than she is now. She had aspirations to take part in a school musical, but remembers being too afraid to audition. Ms. O’Brien has fond memories of playing f...

When Mr. Vennell was asked how he’s changed since childhood his response was, “I sag a little... and have less hair.” But in all seriousness, Vennell hopes he hasn’t changed much since he was a kid, since he had a lot of fun back then. Mr. Vennell looked up to his uncle and was inspired by Duke Snider who played major league baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. If he had gotten his way as a c...

“You can probably imagine by the way I teach high school here that high school was a pretty good time in my life,” Mr. Griffin said. Starting at age 15, Griffin worked as a cook for a local restaurant. He rode his bike to school, preformed skits in assembly, and was in the ensemble of the Musical Guys and Dolls. He was also a part of school government, performed with four bands, and played foo...

Mr. Hillman still has two scars from his favorite childhood memory. When he was in middle school, he and his family took a trip to Devils Lake, a glacial lake at the top of a cliff. Mr. Hillman remembers the cookout and the smores with pudgie pies. On his way back down the mountain, he fell off his bike and cut himself badly, scarring his elbow and knee. But when he looks at his scars, “it’s n...

Ms. Sherman’s high school superlative was “most sarcastic” which shouldn’t come as a surprise. She and her best friend Greg were known as goofballs and although Ms. Sherman was in higher level classes, she was “always willing and able to make a joke.” Ms. Sherman sat in the back corner of her eleventh grade English class next to the classroom telephone and whenever it rang she would pick...