Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

On January 10, 1963 I turned 15. My life had undergone a huge change after I graduated from the 8th grade at Caseyville Elementary School in 1962. After summer vacation in 1962, I began attending North Junior High School in Collinsville, Illinois as a 9th grader. My Caseyville School classmates and I were suddenly small fish in a big pond. We 9th graders from Caseyville constituted only about 10% of the total number of students at North Junior High. My grades dropped substantially and I felt the pressure of having to define myself in that new school.

To make matters worse, I had the worst teacher of my life at North Junior High School. I shall refrain from mentioning his name, but he was an embittered racist who spouted his ideas to us in – of all places – algebra class. His actions set most of his students’ progress in mathematics back (including mine!) by a full year.

I got into several fistfights in some of my classes, fighting right there inside classrooms as others watched. Somehow I won all those fights and things finally started to settle down.

The highlight of my one year at North Junior High is the time I led my intramural softball team to the school championship with excellent hitting, fielding, and batting. That accomplishment gave me the confidence to start playing baseball. In the summer of 1963 I joined a baseball team in Caseyville and showed everyone my ability to hit for power. I was fully prepared to spend the summer playing baseball, but my father forced me to work with him instead. I truly lament missing the opportunity to develop my baseball skills.

After that summer I began high school as a sophomore (or second year student) at Collinsville High School in Collinsville, Illinois. I was very happy to have that unpleasant year spent at North Junior High School behind me! In high school I began taking Spanish. For the first time in more than 10 years I was being exposed to Spanish.

Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.