Rural Junior High in Bainbridge

Not all of mine will be this sentimental but it's one of my first memories of teaching in 1975 in Bainbridge GA.


As a first year teacher back in the '70's, I was teaching in a rural junior high (as they were known back then) in South Ga. I had an all boys' 7th grade health class. There was one very small Black boy who just tugged at my heart strings. He had these enormous brown eyes, was blind in one eye and he also had these 2 little scars on his nose.
I finally got up the courage to ask him about his eye. He was opening a bag of oranges one day, the knife slipped and went into his eye! He then told me about the 2 small scars on his nose. A rat had gotten into his bed one night and bitten him!
I actually invited this little boy to come home with me one weekend, but his mother wouldn't allow it. I later learned that she was embarrassed for him to visit me because he didn't have enough clothes to bring.
Thus began my career of GA public school teaching!