OK- It Was A Strange Request!

Early in our lives, my wife and I discovered that education was a marvelous path on which we have been privileged to travel. Some of our greatest teachers on this journey have been our students and the living world around us. On this path we have had some wonderful experiences that comprise the fodder for great stories.

Sometimes it is the little things that one recalls during the teaching experience. I remember teaching science at Ripley High School (1968-1972). As a novice teacher, I could never understand why someone would not be interested in the wonders of science. Sometimes a teacher may have a student that for some reason is not enthralled with a particular topic. One afternoon during a biology lecture, my 10th grade students were seemly very interested in the review of the anatomy of the male and female reproductive systems. However, looking back on the last row was Timothy (name changed to protect the innocent) who was in a deep slumber. After we finished our review, we had about 10 minutes left before classes changed. Timothy finally raised his head and was slowly coming out of his comatose state.

I thought.”We’ll see if ole Tim was listening!” “Timothy”, I said, “Would you mind to go to Mr. Parson’s chemistry room and pick up a dozen fallopian tubes.” Timothy went out the door and headed to the chemistry lab. Knocking on the door, Timothy proceeded to explain to Mr. Parsons that Mr. Meads was out of fallopian tubes for the lab and could he borrow some!

I am not certain what Mr. Parson’s response was. I did hear Timothy telling a friend that he needed to look up “those tubes” in the dictionary. Seems Mr. Parsons did not have any but went into an uncontrollable chuckle when he heard Timothy’s request.