Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Happy Birthday Mr. James

I was one of those girls at school that had a secret crush on her school teacher. His name was Mr. James and whilst I didn't pretend to marry him, he was the 'funny' teacher, the clown. And I liked him. I was drawn to him.

At the end of Year 2, on my last day of school, I was presented with my little piece of paper to take home to mum. This little piece of paper made my dreams come true. He would be my Year 3 teacher.

Mr. James was a very big influence on me and I was blessed enough to have him the following year. We learnt how to make things out of clay, and we created our own bowls/pencil holders, had them put through the kiln and then painted. And I won the bowl that Mr. James made.

And I still have it.

The end of Year 4 was the end of Mr. James position at my school. And I have no idea where he went... until I was in Year 7, when he hand wrote a letter (remember those?) and posted it to me at school.

I had sung a solo performance the week prior at The Festival Centre here in Adelaide. It was part of "The Festival of Music' - A collection of schools coming together for an end of year performance. On 'my' night, he was there. And he heard me. And he was moved enough to write to me.

He was proud. Maybe even shocked. But he wanted me to know how happy he was to see me, and hear me... and I was on Cloud 9 from the mere thought of him taking the time to acknowledge me.

I wanted to write back to him and at least say 'Thank You', but by that time I was in Year 8. And it was so uncool to write to your Primary School teacher, let alone one from Year 4!

But every year, on the 3rd July I think of him. Because it's his birthday. I have no idea how I have remembered, or why I have remembered, but I have. And I hope he's out there enjoying his day and still making an impact on children's lives.

He's one of those rare teachers. And I am SO glad that I am able to say that I was one of his students.

Happy Birthday Mr. James.