More about events before my Dad's death

There are some other things I should have mentioned but which slipped my mind. After we built our house we found that our budget was very tight so we talked about it and I asked Mel if I could take all my college credentials to the Education Department to see if I could find a job in a school office. You see, our education system was under the auspices of the British government, which looked with scorn on American colleges. That way I would be home in the afternoons when the children were home from school and my Mom would watch them if I didn't get tome in time. Mel agreed, so off I went to see what I could do. The woman who interviewed me scanned my information then said, "I am sending you to Northlea High School — they desperately need someone." So, off I went, post-haste. When I got there I was interviewed by the Headmaster, who hired me on the spot, but told me that I would be considered temporary staff because of my American degree. Then, to my horror I was told they were hiring me to teach 6th Form Business Math. I gasped, and said, "I only had one course in American Business." "I think you will do just fine," he said. You see, he was impressed with the fact the the math courses I took in America had earned me straight "A"s, and I was also a member of Alpha Chi, a national Honor Society.

Well I decided to take the bull by the horns and do the best I could. For those who don't know the British education system, the sixth form is equal to a freshman course in America. Big GULP!! I made up my mind I was going to be very honest with the students and explain that this course was something with which I was unfamiliar, but that I felt that if we worked together on it we could make it. There were about 8 students in the class, one of whom was a Jewish girl who was extremely talented and VERY well aware of the fact. She obviously didn't like the sound of my information, and I made a fatal mistake with her of marking something wrong which she considered was right — and may very well have been right — and the other student was one who had already failed the exam twice. Anyway, I think he and the other six students appreciated my confession and decided I was worth working with.  And we did, in fact we had a great time. I used to sit up in bed at night trying to fathom things out. I worked very hard — EVERY student passed at the end of the year. I learned to love each one of them. Towards the end of the term the girls in the class said they had been asked to arrange a fund-raising event for the school and they said to me, "Mrs. Sheasby we want to have a Mrs. Northlea Competition and very much want you to be a participant."
"What would I have to do?" I asked.
"Just walk across the stage."
"Dressed how?"
"In a bathing costume. We will all vote for you."
"Absolutely, no way."
"Ah, come on Mrs. Sheasby!"
"If you think I will walk across the stage in a bathing costume in front of hundreds of teen-age boys you have to be out of your minds."  This interchange all went on in the nicest way, but they now knew it was out of the question, so we parted still friends.

There will be more about my teaching experience at Northlea in the next post because I have quite a lot to say and this is quite long enough for now.