Letter to the Editor: An honor to teach Art at Guthrie Junior High

My name is Phyllis Creamer and I am retiring from Guthrie Public School after twenty-four years of service.  It has been my honor to teach Art at Guthrie Junior High. Sometimes, I have thought I should round-up students from my first classes, and bring them back—I have sort of figured out this teacher thing now—maybe they could learn a few things better.  Thank you so much Guthrie for making me feel loved, accepted, and encouraged for all those years.

There have been some wonderful memories I have of our students and school, the opportunities students have had because they have won contests, the joy of seeing the spark in a student when they have mastered a skill in Art, excitement of parents as they follow the interest of their children at school, and my fellow educators as they pour so much of their time and effort into teaching and inspiring our children.

There have been sad memories, some even tragic, over the years in our school system that I won’t be able to forget. There are also little fun things that will stick with me, too.  Mr. Jim Smith on my first day of teaching walked in my classroom and said, “You’re all dismissed,” and my students just shot out the door.  I stood there and watched them go; I had no idea what to do.  That was my first lesson in the philosophy of just laugh about life and go on.

That same year, my students and I would be entertained by Mr. Hughes’ deep, bass voice singing, “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” in the hall right outside my classroom door.  It seems as funny now as it was then.  A great memory I  have is my fourth hour students, this year, deciding they would stage a happening. At a certain, prearranged time, they all fell to the floor for about 15 seconds, and then they all got up and sat in their chairs as if nothing had occurred.  After the initial shock, I enjoyed that moment, too.

I have so many expectations of things I want to do when I retire.  I’m not sure I’ll be able do everything I have planned. Once a retiree of our school was asked to volunteer for an upcoming project a day at the school, his reply was that he was pretty sure he was sorting socks that day and would not be able to attend. I hope sometime I can be able to come back to help if needed at Guthrie Junior High.

Soon there is another vote for a school bond issue–on May 12th of this year. Before I leave I want to share with the voters just how devastated our students are when a bond election is voted down.  It is hard to even believe and hope that improvements are able to be made to our schools.  We need them so badly. Our hearts, both students’ and faculties’, break when that hope is crushed yet another time. We aren’t asking for extravagance; we are asking for basic needs–like  roofs, maintenance needs, and windows that are energy efficient.   After the last bond issue was voted down, a student asked me, “Why don’t the people in Guthrie care about us? People in Edmond and Deer Creek and Oklahoma City care about their school students. Why don’t people that vote in Guthrie care about us?”  My reply was the people of Guthrie do care about us.  So I am asking you, the voter, how would you answer that student?  Your caring reply will show when voters go to the pole.

Don’t feel it doesn’t matter whether you vote.  Our generation didn’t plant those wonderful oak trees in Mineral Wells Park–their acorns are huge and great subjects for drawings.  Someone planted those trees for us.  Their concern was for our future and not to take care of themselves–that is the heart of community.

I just want to encourage the community of Guthrie, that I have come to love,  to consider our students’ and future students’ needs in the upcoming bond election.