Wonderful teachers!

by Janet Wilcox and friends     
San Juan County has been blessed with hundreds of dedicated well trained and caring teachers since 1880. 
Issue 8 of Blue Mountain Shadows gives a detailed coverage of both superintendents and teachers who came to this isolated part of the state and made a difference in the lives of hundreds of students and their families.
A few you may recognize:  Joseph Bond Harris.  George A. Hurst Jr.  Lucretia Lyman Ranney, Elizabeth Park Guymon and Gladys and Albert R. Lyman. 
The Lymans not only walked daily out past Westwater to teach but they also brought food for the native people they were teaching.
Often new school teachers were sent to outlying one room school houses such as East Summit, Ucolo, Torb, Lockerby, and Fry Canyon. There were nearly 30 such isolated schools in San Juan County in those early days.
The teachers usually lived with a nearby family and besides teaching they were expected to keep a fire going to heat the building and attend to any medical issues that might occur. Since there were no telephones, this required initiative and common sense. Such experiences occurred in surrounding states as well and there are many common themes.
The main one being the teacher’s dedication, creativity and efforts they made to provide the best education possible for their students.
Our family lived on an isolated farm 22 miles from Ririe, ID and the closest school. 
To get there we had to get up early and one of our parents would drive us two miles out to the highway to meet the bus, both morning and after school. The bus rides were long and often we’d sing crazy songs, tell knock-knock jokes, or count how many ducks or antelope we saw.  School was our main social life and we were blessed to have wonderful teachers.            
 There was no kindergarten in those days, so 1st grade was our introduction to new friends and the wonders of Dick and Jane Books.  Our 1st grade teacher was Rhoda Harris. She was a very engaging teacher and I especially remember the rhythm band she organized. 
Everyone was taught how to play an instrument of some kind: drum, bells, mini xylophone, triangle with piano accompaniment. It was a fun, wonderful learning experience. 
Our 8th grade teacher, Mr. Hanson, also made music important in Ririe and organized a school choir where we learned to sing parts.  He was also a strict disciplinarian and several times noisy boys would be sent through the “swatting” machine!  Something that could never happen in today’s schools.
Another teacher who impacted our lives was Thyrza Barrett, our English teacher at Ririe High.  She expected quality work, rewrites, and involved us in evaluating each other’s papers so we learned to edit and make suggestions.  She also was our advisor for The Rattler (the school newspaper.) If she felt our work was good enough, she would find a way for it to be published in other places and encourage us to enter writing contests. 
I’m sure my classmates remember Mr. Helm because he had a ping pong table in the back of the classroom and we came to school early every day so we could rotate into the lineup for games.  We spent hours every week (especially in the winter) competing with each other.  However, if a student was not paying attention or too noisy once class started, he’d throw an eraser at them!
Mr. Nield was our patient algebra teacher and both my brother and I met with him regularly to clarify the process for solving problems.
Richard Pincock was a lot like him as they both had skill and patience teaching Algebra to high schoolers. 
Tamara Boyle: “I so loved my first-grade teacher, but we all love our first teacher! She was Josie Bird.  She lived in the Palisades area (Idaho). One day I was coming home from the 4H camp in Alpine and decided to stop to see if she was home. She remembered me almost before I told her who I was!  She was happy to see me again after 50 years! 
Truman and Ada Rigby were two teachers who taught for many years in Blanding. They were dedicated,  patient  and thorough in their instruction .  Ada is also well remembered for her beautiful paper cuttings. 
Pete Henderson was a newcomer to San Juan County but he had a great impact when it came to enriching and promoting local talent.  He started The Canyonlanders, a large chorus who performed several times a year.  Between 80-100+ people sang in the group.
He was tireless and practiced with the group until it was perfect.  He also helped start the annual performance of The Messiah, which continues to this day.  However, because he was born in another country, he didn’t always understand what the locals were talking about. 
His first assignment was teaching at Montezuma Creek and on his first day he was given a glass vial and told to fill it.  He thought it was a little strange they wanted a urine sample and was on his way to the bathroom, when the secretary said, “Be sure you let it run for 5-6 minutes.”  Then he knew it was “water” she was talking about!
When we first moved to Blanding, Oliver Harris, Steve Lovell, Lloyd Bayles, Derald Kurtz and Candice Mahon taught several of our energetic, noisy boys and we often had to follow through with either lectures or punishments to improve their class behavior (which happened regularly!)
Candice taught for over 30 years grades 1-4.  She, along with Julene Christensen and Mrs. Monson, taught cursive writing and also organized many programs. Singing the song naming all the counties in Utah was a practical and fun way to learn.  
In those days, teachers were not so restricted in what they taught or how.  An active PTA helped coordinate school activities. 
When it was noted that “ain’t” and “gots” were becoming students’ favorite words, Steve Lovell and Oliver Harris made wanted posters showing the word villains, then took their students out to Westwater where they shot the criminals on the posters! There was a big massacre that day, and it was probably memorable!
Blanding had and still has many wonderful teachers. Lyle Nielson is one who has probably taught the longest as he’s been teaching at SJHS 40+ years. French is his specialty, which isn’t taught in all schools.
Many school principals in Blanding started as teachers and later became principals. Their wisdom dealing with students was much appreciated. Jim Harris, Lloyd Bayles, and Robert Bowring are just a few.