Sunday, June 5, 2016
Vivian Podworny was my Grade 7 teacher in Stonewall, Manitoba. It was her first year teaching, I think, and she was very good. She left after one year to get married.
She instilled a love of learning in all of us, and her enthusiasm was infectious. 53 years later, I wish I had re-introduced myself, to find out what her year in Stonewall had been like.
My most vivid memory is Miss Podworny giving Jimmy Sheldon the strap. I can't remember what Jimmy had done, but it must have been bad. He was 16 in Grade 7, a grown man almost, and farm tough. Vivian took him to the back of the room to administer punishment, and when she was done, Jimmy was laughing and Miss Podworny was crying. She probably embraced the banishment of corporal punishment when it came to be.
