I was always intrigued with math and went through calculus in high school.  And, I always like Sister Mary Charles.  But, as I age, I find more and more that the teachings of Mrs Thompson have been more of a benefit to me than any other course at St C.

Phonics was a great start and typing in high school went from "dumb elective" to valued asset.  But, putting it all together and being able to convey a thought in an article, a website, or e-mail is priceless.

Thanks Mrs T!

I always like Mrs. Thompson too, even though I thought diagramming sentences was lame.  However, whenever I notice grammatical errors in published books or on radio or television, I wonder how the people who wrote these things managed to get thru high school, much less college.  In college I took a course in business writing, and one of the assignments was to bring in an ad from a newspaper or magazine and point out the grammatical error.  I brought in an ad that said, "Look what Sue Jones did!"  My teacher looked confused and asked me to point out the grammatical error.  I said that the sentence should read either "Look AT wht Sue Jones did," or "See what Sue Jones did."  The teacher acknowledged that I was right, but that I was much too picky.  I would love for Mrs. Thompson to have been there!

I liked all my teacher's at St. Cecilia's. Sister Bernadine, my first grade teacher was awesome. Mrs. Polomsky(3rd grade) was very nice, but apparently she was a new teacher because sometimes the things our class (never me--no, realy...) drove her into the bathroom to cry--but those instances were early in the year.

Sister Mary Aquinas was a good fourth-grade teacher, but we moved to Denver the second semester. In 5th grade I was back and had Mrs. Peaks (Danny Van Cleve's sister). In the sixth grade I loved Sister Mary Charles--great teacher and a good athlete--especially softball player. The inimitable Mr. Thompson was my 7th grade teacher and she taught us a lot more than academic subjects,for example, telling a few of the boys to keep their hands out of their pockets because it looked as though they were masturbating. Later on, she was not surprised to see the huge dictionary in the library open to that particular "m" page. She worried about our body odor, encouraged--no, required that the boys use deodorant.

I also remember the afternoon that Mrs. Thompson let one of the loudest farts in the history of the school. She was sitting on one of those solid wood chairs and, I think tried to lift herself up and discreetly (and quietly) pass gas. Unfortunately, her body didn't cooperate and because of the reverberation of the chair, and the acoustics of the room, kaboom!!! I remember we all sat there for just a moment, not sure of what had happened. Then we struggled with incredulity--our teacher, and not just our teacher, Mr. Thompson, for goodness had farted--and very loudly. Mario insisted that it lifted her out of her chair. I couldn't verify that. I hadn't been looking and, frankly, couldn't bring myself to look at her. I was too embarrassed. Why was I embarrassed?--out of empathy, because she was, naturally. How could I tell--by her red face, her ad-hoc lectures on a perfectly normal body function, and the fact that she got really mad at us.

I'm sorry it happened, but as I think back on it (and narrate the story to my wife) it makes me (and my wife) laugh almost uncontrollably. As an adult (and a teacher of 35 years who, thank God has never had his flatulent peccadillos made quite so obvious to his students)I realize that it was the inconguity of its being MrsThompson--always in control-- that made it so hilarious.

Sister Benita Frances was amazing--quietly powerful, queenlike, regal.