One of my students, Jill, was winner of the Kentucky Junior Miss Pageant and qualified to represent the state in national competition. She was and, I assume is still, a wonderful singer and a great personality. She did not receive the national titles but we were very proud of her. a year of two later I was playing on a softball team that was mixed men and women and it was held at one of the local YMCA sites. While walking to the playing field for our first game with a friend who was also on the team, I saw a beautiful young woman running across the field and threw her arms around me and told me how nice it was to see me. It was Jill, who was now working at the "Y" between college years. We talked a while and my friend stood and watched with a strange look on his face. Later on the bench he kept nudging me and finally I asked him what he wanted. He asked who that stunning young lady was and why she was hugging me on a softball field. I simply replied that she was the former Kentucky Junior Miss. I later explained. I eventually quit that team because the men were batting natural and not opposite of the their natural side, left v right, and I found it to be dangerous for some of the less experienced women.

SHONI SCHIMMEL I understand that this blog is about teaching and students and there is a special feeling in my heart for all the former students I have had along the way. Today, I want to deviate just a bit. My, son, my wife and I have been U of L women's basketball season ticket holders going into our 8th year. Even though I actually seldom meet the young ladies that play on the team, I do, in a way, feel much the same about them as I do my former pupils and I also see many of my past charges at the games. Last night, July 19th, I watched one of the Cards grads set the court on fire in the WNBA All-Star game in Phoenix, Arizona. She put on an awesome display of basketball wizardry. Shoni Schimmel, a native American from Oregon and former reservation resident, put on a show that will not long be forgotten in a game that is often forgettable. Not only will this game be remembered, 125-124 in overtime, but Shoni will become legendary in the collective memory of the fans. Shoni scored 29 points, a record for an all-star game, including 7 three-pointers, had 8 assists, some due to amazing no-look passes, with some behind the back and behind the head executions. She also managed to get 5 rebounds. She was voted the games Most Valuable Player and was exceptionally gracious, staying and taking photos with her wonderful family, opponents, and fans for a very long time. What I like most about Shoni and her younger sister, Jude, a U of L senior in the approaching season, is that they have become icons among the native Americans, especially among those who feel trapped on Reservations across America. Both the Schimmel sister work tirelessly for the cause of the native-american population. Jude has done enough that a national magazine has named her one of the ten most remarkable college women in America. Her 3.8 something GPA didn't hurt either. Because of Shoni's fame, she has been the one most renowned and both the sisters take on that tiring roll with decorum and humility. I applaud them and I, too, look to them for inspiration as I do for many to my former students who have shown strength and resilience in difficult and tiring situation. I think we may be leaving this world in better hands than we ever anticipated. Here's to the youth.

MY STUDENTS TOOK CARE OF ME It never ceased to amaze me how my students took up for me in very subtle situations. In some of the less disciplined class I had, I would often need to stop instructions and reminds student that the real reason for being there was to learn, not socialize. Some days it was a serious battle. Those classes transformed into the most respectful and interested students when I was occasionally evaluated which each teacher is supposed to experience each year or two. On those occasions, the student looked at me (a rarity) raised their hands, asked questions and actually paid attention. After the administrator would leave I often asked them "Who are you and what have you done with my class?" On one occasion, I very vocally sent a student down with a referral that she was totally disrespectful of me, threw books across the classroom, cussed like a sailor and screamed at the top of her lungs. I slammed the door and turned around and faced my class and said with a smile, "I'm sorry you had to witness that." they applauded. The girl was suspended and after returning the counselor assigned her to another history teacher until the girl protested that she wanted to back in my class because she really liked me. The councelor called and asked if that
would be OK with me. Sure I said, if she acts like that with a teacher she likes, I can't imagine how she would act if she didn't like her new teacher. I accepted her with certain behavior requirements and she was an angel the rest of the year. Man, you never know.