“Kids, Don’t Laugh . . .”
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| JoAnn Conwell Wind River High School Kinnear, WY approx. 1985 |
When I returned from teaching overseas, I got a job teaching Language Arts and Journalism at Wind River High School. The school sat adjacent to the highway between Kinnear and Morton. The staff was young, and we eventually worked together for over 20 years.
JoAnn was the high school secretary, and she kept things running smoothly. JoAnn always called the staff "kids" which looking back made sense because most of us were young. The staff lounge/workroom was adjacent to the principal's office and had a connecting door to the front office where JoAnn worked.
One day, JoAnn came into the staff lounge via the principal's office with her hands in front of her, and the first words out of her mouth were, "Now kids, don't laugh." She sat on the arm of the ugly, celery green sofa and sheepishly explained that she had superglued her thumbs together. Despite her warning, we all laughed and wondered how on earth she had managed to glue her thumbs together.
Once the laughter subsided, the Industrial Arts teacher said he had some acetone that would loosen the glue, and he set off to his classroom to grab it.
I rushed across the hall to my classrooom and grabbed a camera to document the day.
JoAnn was a sweet lady, and we all have fond memories of her.
That's too cute. And that's a great photo.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story! I've done that too with Superglue. I don't trust it anymore. I never use it.
ReplyDeleteFun story! It looks like she's clapping. And you're right, school secretaries are crucial to the life of a school!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memory. Made both of us laugh and talk about the golden days.😊😊
ReplyDeleteShe sounds like a great lady. Funny, even when glued together! :-) That's a great picture.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
Great picture and great story...and I'm laughing!!
ReplyDeleteA great story! Those school secretaries certainly are the people who keep our schools humming along smoothly. When I moved from teaching into doing regional staff development I got to know a whole bunch more of these amazing, well-organized ladies. In our smallest schools they even had to be the school nurse occasionally.
ReplyDeleteToo funny! Bet you were pleased you had the camera handy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good memory!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story with a coworker and a great laugh shared by all!
ReplyDeleteoh that is funny. She was obvious1y not above chuck1ing at herse1f!
ReplyDelete