President Trump's intent to funnel federal dollars from public to private schools will never erase the impact that the late Rachel Dunlap, my fifth grade teacher at Oliver H. Perry Public School #92 in South Baltimore, had on me.
Mrs. Dunlap, who resembled actress Eve Arden, made her classroom an exciting place of learning. She was a renaissance woman who started each class by sharing her favorite artwork and discussing it. She also discussed newsworthy, current events with her students. She had a vast knowledge of literature and math. Most important, she treated her students with respect.
Her passion for education was contageous. She demanded decorum at all times.
If students misbehaved, she wrote their names on the blackboard, inside her
hand-drawn, yellow chalk depiction of a large teapot. These students would then have to stay after school in her Tea Party as punishment. She always walked her students home to make sure they were safe and to talk with their parents.
I never had to attend a Tea Party, but I once had Mrs. Dunlap throw my ruler out of her classroom's 2nd floor window and onto West Ostend Street. That was when she caught me passing a note to classmate Charmaine Warren. I had given a Valentine's Day card to Charmaine and my note said, "I like you. Do you like me? Please let my know. Thank you very much. I think you are nice."
Mrs. Dunlap smiled when she read the note and she then gave me extra math homework as punishment.
She later told my late parents at a PTA meeting that I was a "joy to teach." She said nothing about the note, which remained our secret.
Mrs. Dunlap cried on the day when President Kennedy was assassinated. She told me, correctly, that the world would never be the same.
My appreciation today for the written word and the arts, as well as my love of reading, are a direct result of her influence.
I felt a great loss when I heard of her death.
Teaching -- as exemplified by Mrs. Dunlap -- is, indeed, the noblest profession.
(Photo: Oliver H. Perry Public School # 92)
