At St. Josephs, the first class begins either
with a song or a prayer and they close the school day in the same fashion. A learner leads
either the song or the prayer beginning with the sign of the cross, saying "in the
name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost." True to teenager fashion, no one ever
wants to volunteer. True to teacher fashion, I have told them that I refuse to pick
someone…they are old enough to handle the responsibility. So at the end of one
particularly long day, after a minute or so of me staring at them expectantly, I get
impatient and demand that someone start. Junias, one of the quieter students, makes the
sign of the cross and begins his prayer. Everyone is supposed to have bowed heads and show
reverence to God during this time. As Junias begins, I notice Herman, (a back row
sometimes hooligan), turned around reading a map on the wall. Annoyed, I yell
"HER-MAN!" (not very reverent of me, I realized upon reflection). As Herman
spins around, Junias’ face goes into a big ‘O’ of surprise….he blurts
"Amen!" and does a record-speed "in the name……" as everyone
files out. Then Junias slips up to me and asks in a quavering voice, "Miss, why did
you make me end so quickly?" It is then I realize that Junias thought I had yelled
"A-MEN!!" when I was yelling at Herman. Poor Junias…he was traumatized by
that one. I don’t think he will be volunteering to pray for a while.
The author introduces her new class of learners to "Head and Shoulders, Knees
and Toes"
