6 The Cliffy stories
In my early days of teaching, I learned not to question the way other teachers did their assignments.
Hard as it was to bite my tongue and not give an opinion or an assessment, some would consider
gossip, I tried to stay out of conflict with staff. For two years I had a principal we nicknamed Cliffy.
We all loved him. He was very funny, extremely intelligent, and his life was in chaos.
Cliffy, sadly , was a huge drinker. If he got to school on time, he was in no shape to work, as he was
always hung over. He was a half-time principal and taught Grade six the other half of his job. At least,
he was expected to teach them. He would come in wearing sunglasses and tell us he had pink eye. No
one has pink eye for two years straight. There was a door between his office and his classroom. He
would have assignments on the board for the class to work on. Then he would have the phone from his
office on a very long extension cord cradled between his ear and his shoulder, rest his feet on his desk
and lean back in his swivel chair. All the students and staff knew this, but no one ever squealed on
him. When he began to snore, the students would quietly pick up their supplies and go to a room
that we had designated for them. We all took about four students each and mine always sat
together at the back round table. Eventually, Cliffy would wake up go on the intercom and ask the
Grade six's to return to their classroom. One day, we heard the intercom click on. All of a sudden,
there was a long, loud burp. Then it was clicked off. You could hear laughter through the whole
school.
Why we covered for him, I don't know. He eventually was terminated. Stay tuned for more
stories about Cliffy. I enjoyed those years with him. It sure taught me about loyalty and compassion.
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