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| Some of the students of Room 13, and their teacher, Sybil Bennett Sutherland -- 1958-1959. Click on any image to enlarge. |
I receive a lot of historical items from our community’s past. Most are very interesting, and some are quite rare. However, it’s very seldom I receive an item which is adorable.
This week, the Fitch
family gave me a class project, made by a 6th grade class in
Kerrville in the 1958-1959 school year. It is very adorable.
It’s a book, measuring
about 14x20 inches, made of school “construction” paper, bound at the top with
brads. On the front cover is this title: “Our Class/ Room 13.”
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| Sutherland |
The teacher in Room 13 that year was Sybil Bennett Sutherland. (Mrs. Sutherland also taught me, in her 7th grade English class, about 16 years later.) Mrs. Sutherland is the daughter of Bob Bennett, who wrote the definitive history of our community: “Kerr County Texas 1856-1956.” Her son, Stacy Sutherland, played guitar in the psychedelic rock band, the 13th Floor Elevators.
On the front of each
sheet in the book is a small school photograph, followed by an assigned topic:
“My Life Story.” Mrs. Sutherland was a teacher from the age of 18 until her
retirement; almost all of her career was with Kerrville public schools.
The book is a collection
of autobiographical stories told by 12-year-olds – and each features an cute
school photo. Some of the stories are real tear-jerkers, stories of losing a
parent, losing a pet, or how their family was torn apart by divorce.
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| Bonnie Bauer's story |
For the most part, however, the stories are quite fun.
Occasionally, the story
and photograph pages omit a crucial piece of information: the name of the
student. I suppose that information was not required; after all, it was a small
class, where everyone already knew each other’s name. The name would have been
helpful to me, though.
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| Speakmon |
Here is the absolute best opening sentence in the book of stories, written by Frank Leroy “Mickey” Speakmon, Jr.:
“A few seconds before I
was born, the hospital caught on fire.”
He was born at the
Kerrville General Hospital on March 6, 1947. That hospital stood on the corner
of Main and Sidney Baker streets; the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital opened
later, in 1949.
“They had gas heaters,”
young Mr. Speakmon wrote, “and someone tried to light one and the connection
was bad, causing the wall of the room to catch on fire. As the fire trucks
arrived, I was born….”
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| Roberts |
Other stories, while scary, had humorous touches. Young Lydell Roberts told of her encounter with a dog which bit her. “The dog was put to death because it had a light case of rabies. The doctor gave me some shots.”
Many of the children reported accidents they’d endured. Broken bones, dog bites, accidents around the home. For the 12-year-old set, those are a big part of their story so far.
Many of the children
wrote about their life’s ambition. One wanted to be a florist; another wanted
to be a nurse.
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| Smith |
Billy Ray Smith had an extraordinary ambition: “I hope to travel to the Moon and Mars and all over the world.” Given that we were supposed to have flying cars several decades ago, this does not seem like an impossible ambition in 1958. He also had a nice set of skills: he was a hunter, could drive a tractor, and great with dogs. “I may marry or not marry. Maybe I’ll just stay in Texas and be a highway patrolman.”
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| Arredondo |
Joe Arredondo, who grew up to become a local golfing legend, was especially pleased with one of Mrs. Sutherland’s classroom rules: “Mrs. Sutherland...is the best teacher in the whole school. She lets us chew gum. She tells us about what she did when she was a teenager, and she tells us poems.” He also was a new Boy Scout, and was looking forward to shooting a bow and arrow; a 22 gun; hiking and swimming.
I wish I could share each
child’s story here. They’re quite wonderful.
I’m very thankful to the
Fitches for giving this book to me, and sharing it with our entire community.
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who doesn’t remember Mrs. Sutherland allowing chewing gum in her 7th grade English class. Pity. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times November 4, 2023.
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She was my favorite teacher. She read aloud all of the "Tom Sawyer: & :Huckleberry Finn " Books. She taught me to love literature.
ReplyDeleteI remember Mrs. Sutherland well. Her daughter Heather was a classmate of mine, Tivy 1970. Heather was on the cheer squad every year and was head cheerleader our senior year.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet👍
ReplyDelete