Time Flies

 

As i was clearing out my classroom I came across this photo of the time Dad came to talk to my class back in 2004.

I had Third class and we were doing interviewing techniques in History. One of the assignments was to interview an older person. Not all of my pupils had grandparents to interview and the days of sending them off to find someone to interview were long gone! So I brought my dad in to answer their questions.

Dad is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. His store of general knowledge was vast, his mathematical prowess was ahead of his time and his problem-solving was second to none.

The saddest story he ever told me was about his last year in Primary school. Back in those days very few students went on to Secondary school as it was too expensive. Every year a scholarship was awarded to the best student in Sixth class to allow them to further their education. Everyone agreed that Dad was a dead cert for the scholarship but alas it was awarded to the headmaster's son and Dad started a carpenter's apprenticeship. I wonder what Dad would have achieved if he had been given the chance. 

But Education's loss was the construction industry's gain.

And let's be honest, he earned way more money as a builder than he would ever have done as a teacher!

Anyway he was delighted to come in and talk to my class. 

I have to say I was SO PROUD of him. 

Without any training he had them eating out of the palm of his hand. He regaled them with stories from his school years. About how they had secretly changed the hands of the clock so that the master let them home an hour early. They were terrified going in the next day but nothing was said. When they got home they realised that they had spent an extra 2 hours in school, the master having secretly changed the hands on them!

He told them about life in Ireland during World War 2, about how the Germans had bombed Dublin by accident and how the elephant had escaped from the zoo!

They were amazed to discover that you could buy twenty sweets for two pennies back in those days.

I also found the letters that the kids had written to him to thank him for his visit. I did have a little cry for myself.

"Thank you Mr Lynam for coming to our class. I thought that you were very funny especially when you told us  when you changed the clock. I will look forward to doing that but shhh....don't tell anyone ( I mean Ms Noeleen). I can't believe you remember all that stuff. Wow you have a great memory.

And this one, that proves it's never too late to start again.

"I think you should become a teacher."

This reminds me of the poem The Village Schoolmaster by Goldsmith.

And still they gazed and still the wonder grew,

That one small head could carry all he knew.