Goodbye “Wreckers”

Fule for Thought

 

Well, in my little world of teaching English and PE at Strathmore High, the Finals Week is here. This also means we say ”goodbye” to the first semester classes, and get ready for all new classes and students. This is always an interesting week, as we mark exams, clean rooms, and prepare materials for the new students who will eagerly be thirsting for more knowledge. And if you believe that, I really do have “some ocean front property in Arizona” to sell you! 

Since it is goodbye time, it’s also time to reminisce about my “Recreation” PE 20/30 class. You remember, this is the class that holds all the students who really don’t like PE or any form of physical movement. However, I have to admit we bonded, and this PE class became one of my daily highlights … which also shows you a lot about my career choice!

Yes, this was the class with the greatest collection of “characters” assembled in one gymnasium. There was “Johnny Danger,” a husky hockey player, who had a unique friendship with my native students. They would harass each other, and still go out for lunches every noon hour. One student on the second last day, pretended to want to jump off our gym balcony. I know, I know, this sounds weird, but Johnny jumped in right away to offer and catch the student. I yelled out, “he’s not going to catch you, you’ve seen him play slo-pitch!” 

Ah, good times, good times. Johnny who never met a fitness test he liked and felt that any form of stretching only added work to the fitness test!

And who could forget the girls of my class? These were the girls who on any given day could go from playing with amazing energy and effort, to resembling the orange pylons we use to mark court lines! Often, the first question I’d get on a fitness test day was “what do I need to run to get a 50?” 

You can’t beat enthusiasm like that! 

I remember calling out to one of the guys: “what is that strange moisture on your face? Is that … is that … sweat?!?” 

Yes, they sometimes did exert enough effort to perspire, it was truly a sight to see! There was, however, a definite contrast between this class and my Band PE students. When the Band kids didn’t take part, they would be on the sideline, reading whole novels! The “Wreckers” don’t even know where the school library is!

This was the same class that had a lot of difficulty being energetic. It was like they were trying to save heartbeats for something they felt was more important … like running from the law! I sometimes joked they’d do better on their fitness tests, if they could run with a TV on their shoulders! You could never really do whole units of sports, as they liked a lot of variety. Of course, variety for most, meant only playing floor hockey. If there was an Olympics for floor hockey, we’d have been a real contender! 

I sent one of my guys, Aaron, on an errand to the Student Services Office. Who knew that he’d forget why he was sent there? Yep, he came back and sheepishly asked what he was supposed to say. I restated the message and to cement the deal, gave him a loonie. 

“Oh, and Aaron, don’t tell them some old guy gave you a dollar … that’s going to make both of us look creepy!”

Next, is my pal Kenny. Kenny is the one guy who actually put out the most effort each and every day in Rec.PE. The problem was, that one day, these efforts got him a concussion. He missed a lot of school days, and when he did return, he was raring to go! After about a week of classes, Kenny asked, “can we play dodgeball today, Mr. Fule?”

I replied, “Kenny, the only way you’re playing dodgeball, is if we use balloons! I can’t afford to have you get hurt. I’ve ordered a checkerboard, and you’ll be playing checkers for a while, with a hockey helmet!” 

It’s a good thing high school kids like humour and that Kenny, who’s bigger than me, is a nice guy!

So, I was talked into another semester of Rec.PE20/30. I do have to admit that like warts or boils, they slowly grew on me! We wound up being a very fun class, and every day they made me smile, or laugh. Of course, there were also days when they drove me nuts, but I’m sure they felt the same about me. 

I told them at the end that I wanted a group photo. They were fairly interested, until I told them it was so that I could name them if the police ever came here looking for one of them! Ah, the “Wreckers” … you were an interesting bunch!

 

(“Fule for Thought” is a slice of life humourous column that appears in the Strathmore Times, written by long-time resident, town councillor, high school teacher, coach, husband and father of two – Pat Fule. If you would like to get in touch with Pat, you can send him an e-mail at Pat.fule@shaw.ca)