Make Them Believe

Bailey Inglish Elementary was a school in Bonham I attended from the1^st thru 3^rd grades. It is now a Head Start and Pre-K campus. It was named after a pioneer and one of the founding fathers of Bonham, Texas (originally named Bois d'Arc after a tree that produces nasty fruit. The name would later change in honor of James Butler Bonham. He died at the Alamo). That's your history lesson, the more you know. 

We went to the library for an hour once a week. I loved reading. I remember checking out some big Civil War book over and over. Though I loved reading, I didn't really read that book. I studied the battle maps and imagined being a general. What could I have done different to win a battle? Why was the battle at that spot? Never mind the fact I thought it was called “Silver War.” That was back in the day when it wasn't controversial to say the Civil War was about slavery.

The library had an odd feature that seems so asinine but really enthralled us. There was a full sized porcelain claw-foot tub in the middle of the library. It was ugly and painted blue, green, red, yellow and other rainbow colors. The librarian had a Ziploc bag with our names in it and would draw a name. If your name was picked, you got to spend the hour laying in that tub reading. It was a highly sought after prize. That was it though. Does not seem like a big deal but it was presented as a huge thing. And we ate it up. I thought this was such a unique thing, who came up with it? 

Not THE tub.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/512003051356881087/

Turns out a google search of bathtub reading center brings up a pinterest page with tons of examples. I guess it's actually a thing.

Lunch time at Bailey Inglish also greeted us with a fantastical artifact of absurdity. The lunch room traffic signal.

We had our lunch cards that we grabbed on the way to lunch. After getting our trays the lunch lady would use a hole punch to cut out a spot in our card. This was back before everything was computerized. Much simpler times. Our class sat together and we ate lunch. One time I set a self-proclaimed record for corns on the cob (corn on the cobs?) eaten in a lunch period. About a dozen of my classmates donated their unwanted ears for me to devour. They couldn't cheer me too loudly though because...

Not THE light.
http://store.talklight.com/talklighttrafficlight.aspx

Our decibel level was monitored by a traffic signal! Green meant we were okay. Yellow meant quiet down. Red meant we were in trouble. If we could go a whole week without reaching the forbidden vermilion shade we would get a cheap-o prize. Like a two-cent spider ring or a scratch 'n sniff sticker. Nothing fantastic, but goals you know. Anytime that thing got to yellow there was an ominous chorus of “shhhh!” that rang out. We wanted to be good boys and girls. We wanted our prize. This sounds crazy but there apparently is a market for these. Google “talk light” or “yacker tracker” if you don't believe me.

In both these situations the prizes were really lame. But they were presented as if they were veritable treasures. To obtain them was a bona fide achievement. Educators with experience knew to play it up. Kids are easily influenced. Just show passion and sincerity, not indifference and condescension.

I was in a bus ministry a year or so as a child. A bus would pick me up and take me south of town to Fannin Bible Baptist . The man that drove the bus was great with kids. He tried to make the ride to and from church as engaging as possible. When the bus was full and we'd come up to a stop light he prime us. “Alright kids! When the light turns green we are gonna pop a wheelie. Hold on tight!” And we ate it up. Light turns green and the bus of course would make these loud noises as he accelerated. Usually we would be on Highway 56 westbound, just north of the train tracks that divided the two sides of town. We would scream and hold on for dear life. Why? Because we believed and were into it. We knew that the bus wasn't driving on two rear wheels only. We knew the front of the bus wasn't off the ground. But we played along because it was fun.

This reminds me of Nemo. My oldest song loved Finding Nemo (we always skipped the beginning and started at “First Day of School!”) One day at a Dollar Store my wife got a cheap plush clown fish. It was really shabby but she played it up and Julian always had it with him. It was his Nemo.

Priceless cheap plush fish.

One day at a mall I swung into a Disney Store and got him a $20 plush Nemo. It looked like him. It even had a damaged fin. When I gave it to Julian I didn't make a big deal of it. It figured that the prize would be enough. Know what? It meant nothing to him.  He never traveled with it. Never slept with it. It was an impostor.

Generally speaking, kids don't recognize monetary value. They assign value based on perception. Is there joy? Is there a task involved? Chance? Was there love and care apparent in the presentation? The littlest thing can appear grand if you make them believe. It doesn't take the Wizard of Oz to pull it off. Just a little bit of effort.

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Julian, November 2013.
I can't believe that I can't find a single picture of him with that plush fish!

If I had to pick a single song to be the soundtrack to this post it would be...