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Page 8 SUGAR THE AND SPICE by Bill Smiley The Season Ever have a day when you feel depressed, even surly, with no apparent reason? That's the way I am today. Usually a sweet-tempered, lo- vable chap, I feel right now like kicking the crutches out from under some old _ gentleman trying to get across the street before the light changes. But after a wild look around to see if there's something I could destroy without making my wife sore, like maybe a pa- per cup, I've discovered the source of my vile mood. There they sit, stacked about the floor of my study, those piles of trivia on which I've spent the past eight hours with no obvious change in their altitude. Exam papers. Marking exam papers is, I guess, good for the soul. It's about the only thing it is good for. It's hard on the eyes, the nerves, the tailbone and the temper. But it has a salutory effect on the ego. It's a little like trying to pull in your stomach and finding that your chest doesn't go out any more. Or catching that first horrible glimpse of the naked bald spot which you thought was merely a thinning on top. Yes, it's humbling. You have begun to build up -- with no really good reason, except that you haven't been fired -- the idea that you're an excellent, if not outstanding teacher. Then you start to read what your students have "learned" from you in the past six months. Nothing. Zero. You have merely compounded their ignorance. f You have only confused the simple teen-age philosophies 'they have acquired from televi- sion, hootenanies, Mad magazine and the poolroom. Some young and tender teach- ers, faced with this shattering moment, have been known to turn green, rush to the school board, offer their resignations and even, in drastic cases, at- tempt to pay back the salaries they have accepted since Sep- tember. For the older, tougher teach- ers, it is not quite such a trau- matic experience. Oh, they may swear a bit, tear their hair a bit, and froth slightly at the mouth. But they do not offer to return For Snarling their salaries. The last known case of this, among older teach- ers, was in 1714. The more experienced teach- ers accept this disillusionment as they do the changing of the seasons. They know that by some magic alchemy of spring, Easter holidays, parental pre- ssure, and three months of un- relenting labor on their own parts, it will be all sorted out by June, and most of the kids will advance a grade. And it must be admitted that marking exams is not unmitigat- ed misery. It has its moments. On several occasions, re- sponding to peals of maniacal laughter from my 'study, ready to call the boys in the white coats. There's the student who tries the shot-gun approach. Scatter your gems as widely as possible, and you're bound to hit some- thing right. One such, in a re- cent history exam, identified John D. Rockefeller thus: "He was a Prime: Minister of Eng- land and very important in the labor movement." The rumble heard at the time was John D. trying to argue his way back to this world so he could strangle the kid. Sometimes it's not funny. On a recent exam, junior students were asked to pick the right verb from this sentence: "They have (drunk, drank) all the wa- ter." A little blonde girl with troubled eyes chose "drank" be- cause, as she pointed out, "Drunk is not a verb. It's a noun." She had good reason for her answer. Her father is one. And then, of course, amid the welter of confusion, comes the sudden stab of pure, refreshing delight, the discovery of ane original, perceptive mind, trying to make sense out of all this' nonsense. It's like finding a sol- id piece of ground in a swamp, a cool spring in the desert. That's the moment when the poor old teacher is hooked once again by that most irritating of nuisances, faith in the future of the human race. And bleary- eyed, but with a lighter heart, he bows his weary head once more over the wasteland of words, looking for the diamond in the coal-mine. my § wife has dashed up the stairs, | NEWS April 7, 1966 ORDER YOUR FLOWERS NOW FOR EASTER DELIVERY POTTED PLANTS - LILIES - HYACINTH - MUMS - GERA- MARY'S NIUMS Spring Bouquets Flower Shop PHONE 442, SCHREIBER DAFFODIL - IEP S 3. aa. ROSES - CARNATIONS COMMERCIAL HOCKEY - Continued from page 5 can look forward to another tournament next year. A very disappointing crowd was in attendance at the games. Miss M.Desormeau's Grade 4 class from Terrace Bay Public School were interested visitors at the News Printing Plant on Tuesday afternoon where they were given a glimpse of the various steps taken to print a page of this issue. First use of jewels as bearings in watches. dates back to 1700. SCHREIBER SPORT & CIFT SHOP SCHREIBER - ONTARIO Phone 581 Get set for BOATS - TRAILERS - MOTORS FISH AND GAME ASSOCIATION MEETING A general meeting of the Terrace Bay Fish and Game Association will be held in the large meeting room of the Recreation Centre at 7:00 P.M. on April 6th. All sportsment and outdoorsmen are in- vited. LET'S HAVE A GOOD TURNOUT.