Our catch phrase is on its way.
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
When I turned seven years of age on January 10, 1955 I was having the kind of school year that most people can only dream about! I was getting 100% on each and every project I did at school, was the fastest runner among all the second graders, and had the privilege of getting to know Linda Elaine Fischer, the “smartest” (most intelligent) and most beautiful girl in our second grade class. Miss Thelma Koblitz was my second grade teacher. If I had to name the best teacher I have ever had (and I have had many good teachers!), I would name Miss Koblitz as the best! She allowed me to race ahead of my classmates in all of my schoolbooks. So, by the beginning of March 1955 (or two-thirds of the way into my second year at Caseyville Elementary School) I had completed my schoolwork for the entire year – and with straight “S”s for grades. (For some reason instead of saying that the best grades were “A”s, the Caseyville Elementary School District used “S”s ("S", short for “superior progress”) to indicate the highest possible marks/grades – but for that one school year only. When I was in third grade, the school district resumed using the “A, B, C, D, F system”. By chance, my father had some friends in the then-sparsely-populated state of Florida. One friend lived with his family in the state capital Tallahassee, the other -- again, with his family -- down in glamorous Miami. Dad took a chance and asked Miss Koblitz if I might spend two weeks in Florida with him, my mother, and my younger sister and brother (neither of whom were yet in school) visiting those friends. Miss Koblitz said, “Steven has finished his coursework for the entire year. So, yes, I actually encourage him to go with you!“ That family trip to Florida would turn out to be the best trip of my life, edging out even my recent Falklands trip. In tomorrow’s installment I will talk more about the Florida trip.
Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.