Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

A long time ago, a substitute teacher in one of my classes was so interesting that teenagers cut their regular classes to sneak into his class and learn.

I think it was 1972 or 1973 in Southern California. We were hippies or thought we were or wanted to be. And teenage hippies did not attend their regular classes. Instead, the crept into a class taught by a suit-wearing, short-haired, military veteran.

Crazy? Yes. And it happened.

This was 8th grade. It was American history. For some reason, our teacher was out for two weeks. In walked this older man wearing a dark suit (white shirt and thin tie and all) with a short, short haircut. After ten minutes of talking about the US Constitution, he switched to telling stories about the US military. This was at the height of the anti-military period in Southern California—the pinnacle of anti-military feeling.

We were enthralled. He was a former Navy scuba diver. He had worked with dolphins. He had worked as a military advisor in Hollywood. He had done all sorts of things including earning a degree in History.

We were enthralled.

Word spread quickly. Our friends cut, ditched, skipped (whatever you call it now) their regular classes and came into our class room. They sat on the floor behind the back row to avoid notice. No one said a word.

We were enthralled.

We learned more US history in those two weeks than in the rest of the school year. We were yearning for learning.

The two weeks ended. The regular teacher returned. The same old same old continued. I never forgot those two weeks.

Kids, even American teenagers, yearn to learn. Let us not forget that.