3-- The Best Way to Travel
So many memories and so many lessons to remember. Often times it is not the students who learn but the teachers who are trying to teach them. Years ago, I was teaching a Grade 2 and 3 class of students and I was also expecting my second child. If no one agreed to do a full time outside supervision position , then everyone got put on a rotational sharing list in time slots. I prayed to GOD that I could be exempted but GOD was busy. It was bitterly cold out and more than 30 below. February in Saskatchewan, typical weather and no one wants to go outside. So here I was 7 months pregnant and not in a good mood. The area I was to supervise was the primary area and there was an icy hill as you went out the door. How we endured that bitter cold and got back in safely, I do not know? The students were good, they knew better that to bother me when I was getting my coat, scarf and boots off and get warm again. One boy dared approach me and said "Sorry Miss, but Tim and Liam didn't come in from recess".
OMG, who would choose to stay outside in this weather? So, I get all my winter gear back on, tell the kids to start their cursive writing assignment on the board and head outside again. They are no where. There is no one in the playground. Now what? I panic. That's right. I go back in and notify the Principal. Of course he said calmly "well they have to be here somewhere, so find them." What a help! After about an hour, the police were called. We had already alerted the older siblings in the school and had notified parents to see if they had gone home. Nobody knew anything and of course, nobody saw anything. Where were they? It was freezing outside. The kids were crying about their friends. What a nightmare? What a day? At home time, we were told to leave it to the police and go home. Well, we tried to assure the students that everything would be okay. However, nobody was assuring the adults.
After a restless night and no information, I went to school to see if anybody had heard anything.. Nothing! So once again, I am outside on supervision before school starts, freezing my "you -know-what-off". Unknown to me, staff was called to a quick meeting for an update about the missing boys. I come in from outside and the students have started their morning routine of month, date and are now doing Show and Tell. OMG, who do you think is doing their Show and Tell at the front of the room? You guessed it, Tim and Liam.
They had jumped into a train box car outside the school yard, the train shifted and the door slammed shut. The train travelled from Regina, through small towns, all the way to Saskatoon. By sheer luck, a night watchman doing rounds heard scratches and found them at midnight. They were cold and hungry but otherwise okay. They showed their new winter clothing, boots and mitts. They stayed in a hotel overnight, got swim suits, had a hot tub, room service for food and watched cable TV cartoons, They rode the Greyhound bus back in the morning, with a lunch box full of snacks and comic books to read. They told us, it was the best holiday they'd ever had. They said that " the train was the best way to travel and they couldn't wait to go again".
No amount of warnings about how dangerous this was, how maybe they might not have been found, or the worry they caused everyone, sank in to their heads. So, just so you know apparently ...
"THE BEST WAY TO TRAVEL IS BY TRAIN" according to two 7 year old boys in Regina, who know from experience.
Faith Always !
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