When my sisters and I were in high school, we all took Latin from Mrs. Sleeper. She was in her early seventies at the time but acted like the youth she taught. She seemed to sprint around the room rejoicing in a language she loved to teach. She must have been exhausted by the end of the day. During class this slight woman with a bun wound around the back of her head would share conjugations of verbs and Latin phrases like they were a part of her. I not sure she really taught Latin. I think she must have lived it. Mrs. Sleeper wore only purple clothes. She said, “Purple is the color of royalty.” She drove a huge red boat-like car named Vesuvius. She took students around the world to visit ancient ruins every year. Mrs. Sleeper filled her students with the knowledge and love of the living dead language she loved.
Many of you will have started school by now. (When I taught in Virginia, we started right after Labor Day. ) I really hope that your children will have teachers this year like Mrs. Sleeper. I remember so much about her and the subject she taught because she was so joyful about what she taught. She was fun and innovative. Mrs. Sleeper kicked her trashcan every time we talked about an irregular verb. She had us make movies and write plays about characters from Roman times. She gave deep smiles to you when you answered a question correctly or she passed out a test you had done well on.
Whether your child’s teacher wears purple, red, yellow or green, I hope she or he has a great joy for what they teach.
Did you have a Mrs. Sleeper in your life or your child’s? Please tell me about them in your comment.
I modeled for JDaniel how to make a crayon rubbing on the peacock page.
JDaniel and I worked on the snail and lizard page together. This was so much fun.
We were exploring downtown Greenville and came across this red sculpture. It is titled Untitled. When JDaniel and I stopped to look at it, I asked him what he thought it was. He replied “Ys”. It really does look like two ys stacked together.
