The current issue of Smithsonian with an article called, “Getting There” about those yellow school buses triggered some thoughts and memories. In new information, I learned that the now standard color was first known as National School Bus Chrome and later called National School Bus Glossy Yellow. Technically, it is Color 13432. While you may never need this information, the color was chosen for ease of reading the black lettering in early morning light which made for safety. The article also brought to mind a few school bus stories that will appear in this blog. The following is one of mine with others yet to come.
I recalled my own experience aboard one of those buses that began with a homework assignment when I was in high school. English teacher Mrs. Olsen was an institution at our high school in Holly Springs, MS. A stickler for grammar correctness and a proponent of classical literature, rumor held that C students in her class could make an A in college freshman English. On this occasion, reading Julius Caesar was our homework assignment. She insisted that reading it out loud was necessary to get its full impact.
My bus ride to the rural area where I lived took a good half hour, sometimes more. I sat beside a quiet second grader on the bus, a bit young to require a conversation from an advanced high school junior like myself. Not wanting to waste time, I opened my book and began reading aloud. “Hence! Home, you idle creatures get you home: Is this a holiday? What! know you not . . .”
I paid no attention to my gentle seat companion until she rose to leave at her stop. She paused as she stood and got her books together, “Would you read to me again tomorrow on the bus?” She would, indeed, listen to my assignments many afternoons for the rest of the school year. I was fascinated that the beauty of the words appealed to her when the subject matter had to be beyond her comprehension. As for me, besides finishing some of my homework, I was unknowingly also getting practice in what has always been my favorite part of the teaching day with my students – reading aloud to them.