The One Where I Was A Hot Commodity

1986-1987: Argonia Public Schools K-12 Library, 9-12 Speech/Theatre

*As I begin my Blog chronicling  my 37 years as a Specials Teacher you will  occasionally notice my use of they/them/their when referring  to some of my colleagues that I had negative relationships with. Some of you that know me personally will know who I am talking about, others will not. My story is mine to tell, not theirs. I do not wish to identify them by name. 

Last Day at JC Penney Summer 1986

I quit my job at JC Penney so I could begin my Library Media Specialist certification classes at WSU in the summer of 1986. If I paid for my classes up front, the school board would reimburse me my tuition at the end of the semester. I did not have the money to pay for the classes so I asked the school board if they would pay for them up front. They agreed to do so. I was thankful for that because I did not want to take out any more student loans. The Library classes were interesting.  I’m guessing that there was at least a 15-20 year age difference between me and my classmates. In my 23 year old eyes it seemed that a Librarian was a job for old women. I was by far the youngest in my classes. My graduate level classes at WSU allowed me to become more involved with the Newman Center. I started singing with their praise band as it was full of members I knew from my Search for Christian Maturity group. 

Circulation Desk AHS

I knew that I would have to move to Argonia sometime in August so I found a trailer for rent. One morning as I was unpacking and setting up my new home, there was a knock on my door. It was the school counselor who angrily scolded me for not being at the school for enrollment. I did not have a mentor or anyone to guide me. I had no idea that I was supposed to be at enrollment. At the enrollment I found out that I would not have a classroom of my own and that I would have to use other teachers rooms. I also found out that I would have to be the Cheerleader sponsor (me, really?). I also got bamboozled into being on the district executive committee that met with the Superintendent each month for a meeting. I most likely got assigned to this committee because no one else wanted to be on it. It was a horrible thing to do to a first year teacher.

As a beginning Teacher the Argonia public school failed me. A mentor could have really guided me. I had no curriculum and no teaching materials were left behind for me. I learned that I could order sample text books from companies so that is what I did and I developed and created my own teaching materials. 

Filming with a Beta Camera 

I struggled with classroom discipline. I made the classic rookie mistake of wanting the students to view me as their friend. A mentor could have guided me through this. I started to realize that the only person I could count on to help me, was me.

The Superintendent was very fatherly to me. I was friendly with two of his adult children who I knew from the Search group. He pulled me into his office my  first semester and gave me a stern warning about being too friendly with my students. Apparently not too many single women moved to Argoina because I was inundated with phone calls from single men in the area. One man even referred to me as a “Hot Commodity in these parts.” I had no interest in these local men and focused on my teaching, graduate classes and my church youth group. It was very lonely living and teaching in Argonia. I did have one friend on the staff and that was Julie Stone. Julie was our Spanish Teacher who traveled between three different school districts to teach. 

1986 School Picture

I hated living in Argonia. I got into the habit of going home to Belle Plaine each Friday evening after my cheerleader sponsor responsibilities were done for the night. I wouldn’t return to Argonia until late Sunday evening. I hated living there. Once a small camper moved into the lot next to me and I was scared of my “shady” new neighbors. They left after about a month. I think I did a decent job teaching but I could not get kids to audition for a fall play. I soon learned that sports are what rules in a small town. My stipend for doing the fall play was removed from my contract.

The best part of my day was the hour I spent at the Elementary School each day. I was a plan break for the classroom teachers. For the K-2 students they told me to do these DUSO lessons which was a curriculum better suited for a school counselor as it was all about developing an understanding about self and others. For the 3-5 grade students I would read them the current William Allen White books. I had asked the Superintendent if the district would pay for me to take the12 Elementary Education hours that would allow my Library Media endorsement to be K-12 instead of 6-12. I was told no. I was three semesters into my Library certification classes and could really see myself becoming a full time school librarian. I learned how to feed a form into the printer on the ONE shared Apple IIe Computer that our building had. That form allowed me to order our schools library books at a discount from the South Central Kansas Library System in Hutchinson. I believe I was the first Librarian ever at AHS that did this. It stretched out our budget tremendously. I enjoyed the one day a week that my High School bestie Abbie Davis would come and spend the night with me. We would do a Jane Fonda workout video, watch TV and eat ice cream.

My first contract 

In the spring I decided to see if there were other schools with job openings for High School Librarians and/or Speech and Theatre. I had a few interviews but no offers.  I was barely making it financially each month with my student loan payments. Without asking permission I decided to move back home to Belle Plaine and live with my parents. They welcomed me back rent free.

Celebrating our Forensics season

Look for my next blog entry on 5/9/21 titled
THE ONE WHERE I MET BRAD JOHNSON 1987-1988:  Argonia Public Schools K-12 Library, 9-12 Speech/Theatre