Another Substitute Teaching Adventure

When I was a sub I never took jobs teaching Physical Education because I have no interest in sports and had been restricted from PE because of my severe asthma as a kid. And Middle Schoolers were my least favorite age group to work with.

But one morning the person who called from the sub office (that was before the automated systems) begged and pleaded with me me to accept a Middle School PE job because nobody else was available and they were desperate. She even promised me first choice of Kindergarten jobs the next day. With great misgivings I agreed.

To make things even worse, the kids were doing soccer. When I was a kid soccer was something we read about in Social Studies because nobody in America played it so I didn't even know the basic rules. What could have been worse?

Every period I told the kids I knew nothing about sports, but the purpose of PE was to help them stay physically fit, so as long as they kept moving I'd be happy. I had them run around the track, as they always did, then brought out bags of basketballs and had them shoot baskets. I managed to get through the day without any serious problems, but still felt like a failure when I signed out.

A week or so later a friend of my daughter who had been in one of those PE teachers was at our house.

"Mrs. Collins," she told me, "You were the best substitute teacher we ever had in PE."

"That's impossible!" I replied. "I told you all I didn't have the faintest idea what I was doing.'

"That's why you were so good," she answered. "All the other subs tried to pretend they knew all about sports when they really didn't. You were the only one who was ever honest with us."

That was a compliment I'll never forget.

Honest Presidents

President's Day is now supposed to honor all the past presidents of the United States of America, but it was originally a merger of Washington and Lincoln's birthdays.

When I was a kid everyone knew the story of George Washington confessing to his father that he chopped down a cherry tree and saying, "I cannot tell a lie." However now we know that story was a fictional morality tale originally written by a man named Mason Weems around 1800.

We also heard the story of Abraham Lincoln walking a long distance to return a few coins to someone. That's probably true and is only one reason Lincoln became known as "Honest Abe."

Honest writers and teachers must be sure the historical information they give is as accurate as possible, even if it is intended to teach a moral lesson. I certainly understand why stories like the one I mentioned about Washington are no longer taught in schools, but it's too bad honesty is no longer considered as important as it used to be in our society.

Far too many people in modern America think it's okay to fudge the truth "just a little" if it's in the interests of the speaker to do so. Parents may ask their kids to tell a caller they're not at home when they are, or give the kids answers for their homework. But a little falsehood opens the door for more and those same kids will later feel no guilt about lying to their parents about where they're going.

And the same thing applies to doing things that are illegal. Many people think nothing of breaking speed laws if they feel safe doing so, and I've heard respectable folks brag about managing to get money they weren't entitled to.

Integrity isn't just about speaking the truth, it's about being the truth. A person with integrity is honest even when he or she can't be caught and does what is right even when nobody else is watching.

Maybe we should use President's Day to teach kids about Honest Abe as well as teaching them honesty by our own examples every day.