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A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks

UNEXPECTEDL Y TEA CHING SCHOOL

After being discharged from the Army in early March of 1948, and after working lor 3 or 4 weeks at
Bruce’s Men’s Store, where I had worked during High School on Saturdays and after school hours, I
received a call from Mr. Julian Markham, Columbia High School Principal, and Mr. Markham had also
been the principal at the High School when I graduated 2 years before.

In partial explanation for why he might have called me for the purpose he had in mind, it may have had
something to do with it that when I graduated I received the Outstanding Student Award for
achievement in mathematics, and also the award for the achievement in science, and also the award for
achievement in English. (1 would have liked to have had the band award also, and probably deserved it,
but I don’t suppose they wanted one student to walk off with all the awards).

Anyway Mr. Julian Markham asked me if I would be willing to take over and teach American History
and World History to the juniors and seniors for the rest of the school term, inasmuch as his history
teacher had taken a job to be an FBI Agent in Washington, and had resigned from his job. It is very
difficult to obtain a high school teacher on no notice at all during the middle of a school year, or in this
case somewhat past the middle of the school year.

I reminded Mr. Markham that I had not had any College yet and had no type of certification to do any
teaching, and he said “I know all that Lenvil. But I’ve got to have a teacher, and frankly, you are the
only one that 1 can remotely think of that could take those history classes and finish out the year”. 1
reminded him that I did not receive the Senior Award for excellence in history, never mind all that, as he
knew that I could take the text books and keep ahead of the students, and I let him talk me in to it.
Besides, compared to what I was making working at the men’s store, the pay was pretty good.

Upon taking that job, the very first day I found something that gave me cause for concern. Only 2 years
before, I had graduated from Columbia High, and had been a fellow student with many of those under
my teaching. What particularly disturbed me was that four of those boys were known to be obstreperous,
and were known to give teachers a hard time on occasion, and it presented a problem for me to know
how to handle them. The fellows that I am thinking of were Pat Summerall, Jack Rountree, who passed
away last year, Sam Oosterhoudt, Sr. who passed away many years ago, and Hill Brannon, who was the
brother of Brantley Brannon, one of the Law Partners of Mr. Clarence Brown. These boys represented a
real challenge to me, and I knew that they could either make me or break me as a teacher when 1 was
only a year and half to two years older than they were.

So what I decided to do was have all 4 of them meet me immediately after school one day and I sat them
down and I said “now fellas, I know that you probably find it strange to have me as a teacher this soon
after we all went to school together, and I will admit to you here and now that you can ruin my efforts,
or you can contribute greatly to my success. What I am asking you to do, and I would consider it a great
favor, would be if you would behave, study the subject, and not give me any trouble. If you will do that,
I will simply be very lenient in the matter of grading. You are all smart boys, and I am certain that if you
attend class and pay attention, that you can make good grades anyway but I need your cooperation and I
hope that I can count on it.”

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