Lynn Sauls:  

After loving Miss Phillips' English and Drama classes,not to forget Miss Carpenter's choir, I knew I was destined to act and sing on stage ! What fun that seemed, to be someone else's person and dress up in costume ! The French and Spanish classes also were among my favorites. Madamme Hennessy and Senorita Underwood (bajo de bosque !!!) were both so impressive with their lingual skills. Little did I realize that this was all preparing me to be in front of an audience and use these skills !! The children were my audience for over thirty years and I quickly learned that being a teacher was one of the most rewarding kinds of acting ! One of my "personalities" in the classroom was an old, OLD, retired teacher named Miss Leola Swamp,(for those of you familiar with the Viola Swamp stories, "Leola Swamp" was her sister, of whom no story was ever written !) "Leola Swamp" loved the children, had no more stamina for the classroom (she often would fall asleep while sitting in the rocking chair reading a story to the children !), but she enjoyed coming to "sub" for me on occasion. She had a stoop to her posture. Her "eye glasses" were from the 19th century....and I think her "pocket purse" and "hankie" were too....and I'm not sure how old the little candies were that she carried in her little purse, to give out to the "good boys and girls" ! Her dress was OLD and outdated; she wore substantial black lace-up shoes, with knee highs rolled to her ankles. Most of the time her slip would hang unevenly from under her dress ! She wore long faux pearls which at times would get in her way, her hair/wig was gray and coiffed into a bun and she wore such strong perfumes ! She loved wearing her "Sunday hat" to class ! Her makeup was the best she could do with such poor eyesight, and her cheeks seemed very rosy red and round. Her upper lip(with lipstick too red for older ladies!) took on the outline of steep little "Alps" and her nose, well, plastic surgery may have helped straighten it out ! She loved talking to the children about the "olden days" when there were no TVs, chalkboards,(slates were used when she went to school !), or "overhead projectors"! The children delighted in having to explain all of these "new fangled" inventions ! She was mesmerized by all that w...Expand for more