Lee Note 68 Martha Jones and Latin June 25, 2001

OK, gang, it's time to add another category to the stories' table of contents: Latin and Sherman Childress.

I have to say honestly that during the two years I took Latin, I either despised Sherman Childress or was terrified of him. He was so very tough and unrelenting and took no prisoners.

He was especially rough on people like me who had the potential to perform academically much better than I did but who didn't care enough to put out the extra effort it required to earn consistent A's.

I remember that after I had scored very well on the National Latin Exam, I didn't get the final grade I thought I should have received. When I learned of the grade (a B+ I believe), I was standing by the stairs near Alvera Griffin's room and said, rather pointedly, "That Son of a Bitch!" - whereupon Mary Sue Wilson put her hand over my mouth immediately, eyes big and a horrified expression!

HOWEVER...During my teaching career, particularly when teaching the cultural aspects of World Geography, I used many of the things Mr. Childress had taught me, particularly the language, engineering, and legal trees of both Latin and the Roman Empire from which sprang all the various branches. I always used the Latin word for friend, amicus, as a starting point to demonstrate this tie-in to my student in all ability levels. Therefore, I have to give Sherman his due: for those of us who survived Latin I and passed Latin II, he taught us well. Nevertheless, for many of us, it was Learning By Fire!

Martha Jones Trautwein