From the Beginning
Unlike many young people, I had little experience of having worked for a paycheck until after I finished college. Of course, I'd worked long and hard hours on the farm, especially after our primary direction was a dairy cows. During college I worked two summers as a wrangler with horses and guests in two Colorado settings. After college I entered the Peace Corps. Certainly it was a job but not the standard sort, by any means.
When I came back stateside in 1966, I found my first real full-time job with the Albuquerque Public Schools. Partially I got that job as direct output from my having been a Peace Corps volunteer. The principal of the downtown junior high called me as soon as he saw my résumé. He already had a math teacher on staff, who, along with his wife, had served as a PCV in the Philippines. Mr. Marinsek said, "If I was half as good as Ron, he knew that I'd be an asset to Washington Junior High. Those two years there remain among my most blessed years in the classroom. I taught three two-hour blocks of eight-grade language arts. My knowledge of both Spanish and Latino culture served me well there.
The second year I was asked to extend myself to begin directing plays as an alternative activity for students. An outgrowth of that was that I was soon auditioning for a part at the Albuquerque Little Theatre, where I got to strut the boards twice during that season. One was in a vignette in "Philadelphia, Here I Come" and the other was a Commander Harbinson in "South Pacific," along with three of my student actors--one as Marcell, who got to carry Luther, the seabee who sang "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" across his shoulders and off the stage. Vernedes was a knockout as one of the island women. What special memories those moments are!
Also growing out of those two years was the invitation to get my Master's degree for free. The principal and a former colleague, now acting as a coordinator at the head shed approached me about applying for a fellowship for experienced teachers that would pay me to go to grad school as well. By August I was on my way to D. C. to enroll in Georgetown University in the Experienced Teacher Fellowship Program, where I would earn a Master of Arts in Teaching Standard English to Speakers of Other Languages or Dialects. What a title! What a big moment of my life!
One of the things I remember from the experiences on stage is that a person could really get into character. I almost lost it when I saw that Mary Ann as Nellie Forbush was actually crying as I told her about the death of Lt. Cable. I wanted to hug her and say, "Mary Ann, it's just a play," but fortunately I held onto my character as well.
When I came back stateside in 1966, I found my first real full-time job with the Albuquerque Public Schools. Partially I got that job as direct output from my having been a Peace Corps volunteer. The principal of the downtown junior high called me as soon as he saw my résumé. He already had a math teacher on staff, who, along with his wife, had served as a PCV in the Philippines. Mr. Marinsek said, "If I was half as good as Ron, he knew that I'd be an asset to Washington Junior High. Those two years there remain among my most blessed years in the classroom. I taught three two-hour blocks of eight-grade language arts. My knowledge of both Spanish and Latino culture served me well there.
The second year I was asked to extend myself to begin directing plays as an alternative activity for students. An outgrowth of that was that I was soon auditioning for a part at the Albuquerque Little Theatre, where I got to strut the boards twice during that season. One was in a vignette in "Philadelphia, Here I Come" and the other was a Commander Harbinson in "South Pacific," along with three of my student actors--one as Marcell, who got to carry Luther, the seabee who sang "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" across his shoulders and off the stage. Vernedes was a knockout as one of the island women. What special memories those moments are!
Also growing out of those two years was the invitation to get my Master's degree for free. The principal and a former colleague, now acting as a coordinator at the head shed approached me about applying for a fellowship for experienced teachers that would pay me to go to grad school as well. By August I was on my way to D. C. to enroll in Georgetown University in the Experienced Teacher Fellowship Program, where I would earn a Master of Arts in Teaching Standard English to Speakers of Other Languages or Dialects. What a title! What a big moment of my life!
One of the things I remember from the experiences on stage is that a person could really get into character. I almost lost it when I saw that Mary Ann as Nellie Forbush was actually crying as I told her about the death of Lt. Cable. I wanted to hug her and say, "Mary Ann, it's just a play," but fortunately I held onto my character as well.