Andre Grindle:
CLASS OF 1992
Garland Street Middle SchoolClass of 1992
Bangor, ME
Andre's Story
Life
Well let's see here.The last school I attended was Garland Street Middle School.My teacher was Ms.Ellen Smith I believe.I remember three of my classmates very well-Richard Heatley,Nathan Fogerty and my old pal Chrissie Carlilse.I left the school mid year due to administrative conflicts.So what happened to me after that?Well I was successfully homeschooled until I was 20 and lucky enough to receive my GED from the learning center in Bangor Maine-I even went for the cap and gown routine lol.A year or so later I tool a speach course at Beal Collage in Bangor,mainly due to my burgeoning interest in photography.Who am I now?Well I finaly came out about being gay several years ago,I am a painter and despite my constant money problems I am still pursuing my photography.For those of you who may remember me I am still somewhat of an individual at heart but I have faced most of the unavoidable truths about myself over the years.
I knew that I was gay even back in the Garland Street days.A fellow classmate whose name shall go nameless was an enormous help in that respect by telling me of their lesbian mother.After years of fighting off insecurities I finally revealed my true self.But I am a regular guy-I am not a transvestite and do not enjoy gay bars.Photography and art have been a passion of mine since my early teens.I got my first camera (a Pentax K1000) just after I left public school.Now fourteen years and five camera's later I am coming to the point at as I slowly approch 30 that I wish to become more proffessional with it,seeing as I am currently unemployed.However I also struggle with an anxiety dissorder I don't fully understand and creates some mildly discomforting thoughts in that arena.
But after many years of personal discomfort and general lonliness aside I wanted at last to try to seek out some of the people I knew during the course of my education and see if any of them even care to remember me.I was in Ms.Smith's class in the fall of 1992,in the 6'th grade..Please contact me there anytime if you think you may have gone to school with me.I also attended Gerry Brian's 5'th grade class at Fairmount Elementary in 1991-92 and Ms.Dempsey & Ms Larabee's 4'th grade class in 1990-91.One classmate I had in the 5'th grade was someone named Adam Meek.We were in a school play together.I always wondered what happened to him and would like to be able to chat with him again.
School
Most of my school life was pretty typical.I attended kindergarden at Veazie Elementary School and made a lot of....aquintances there.But the transiant world of the mid 1980's never really allowed me to make lasting friends.The next year in first grade my marks began going down and before I knew it I was escorted out of class during the day by 'tutors' and 'councelors' and then before I knew it my family and moved out of town and I was put into a class of children who threw sometimes violent tantrums.It was a special ed class and to this day I am...Expand for more
only marginally sure why I was there at Fruit Street Elementary.It was explained to me that I had difficulties learning.
At fourth grade I was transferred to Fairmount elementary.Even though I was still in special ed I was now confidant I'd be getting out soon.By the next year I was in a regular class-even if the teacher Gerry Brian was an odd fellow sometimes.I had a friend there named Adam Meek.One time in a school play he was playing my father and had to hug me in one seen-he had no idea I was gay.That was the end of my odyssey at Fairmount.In the fall of 1992 I began junior high-supposadly a whole new direction in my life.But too much had changed in a few months.I was with an entirely new group of people and the only person of inter-racial backround.And my fasion sense was still very much in the 80's and now the 'grunge' look (which I never cared for) was firmly in vogue.It was never really the children I had trouble with-it was one member of the administrations blaring racism and anti semsim that caused him and my family to clash.
Within four months I was ready to drop out until I was introduced to the concept of home schooling.It was agreed my mother would teach me at home without the worries of politics and stifling grading systems and only have to report the results to a certified teacher.At that time home schooling was usually done only by religious extremists and there was some stigma on that at first.That and the fact a lot of people thought my social life would suffer.But now at least I could learn my own way and choose the friends I wanted to.It taught me more how the real world worked-where people weren't always telling you how to live.After eight years along with some unexpected setbacks I got my GED and I am far more proud of the knowledge that led me to earn this honor then of the diploma itself.
College
After I got my GED diploma I vowed never to step foot inside another type of school system again after my touchy experiences.But my mother was attending Beal Collage in Bangor at the time and as a gift that year she was given one free course for any member of her family.After we voted on the issue I decided to take the course-thought it would help me re-evaluate my school experience.The only course the school offered was a speech course.You had to construct three types of speeches and then demonstrate them to the entire class.Trouble was that this course led to a great deal of critiicism of the other classmates.
It had been a decade since I'd been in a school with others and there was trouble adapting with adults who all had different ideas how to proceed.For grown adults many of them were still basically children,some were middle aged and set in their ways and one was even a dyed in the wool wiccan.I found the whole experience of collage very odd-even with only three classes a week.I completed the course with high grades and was very proud but I seriously doubt I will ever go back to school again.
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