The Wolf's Reasons

I was eleven years old, skinny and shy. Although I was not a bad reader, I never liked to read in front of the class, always fearful of making mistakes and having to endure the laughter of my peers.

The first day of school was always very exciting, seeing old friends, exchanging summer tales, wearing new clothes, but that first day of school was different -- we were going to meet the "male teacher". Back in those days there were not many male teachers, so when our class heard we were going to have a male teacher we were in "shock".

At the beginning, we were a little bit frightened but, as the days passed, we felt more confident. Mr. S. loved to read. Oh, how he loved to read! Everyday he would read us a story, a chapter of a book, a poem. He could have read the entire day, and we would have not minded. The school bell could have rung, and no one would have wanted to go home until Mr. S. finished the story. It was not just the stories he read, but the way he read them that kept us all hypnotized, sucked into the story. He made us re-live the stories in our minds; he read with such intonation, he would even make voices to make the story more realistic. He was such a wonderful reader!

That year I decided to participate in a school-wide contest on poetry, I chose to recite one of Mr. S.'s favorite poems, "The Wolf's Reasons". The poem tells about a wolf that was very ferocious, and the conversation he had with Saint Francis of Assisi about the reasons why he could not be a human's friend. Mr. S. encouraged me and helped me prepare for the contest, and although it was a very lengthy poem, I memorized it. I won first place!

Many people said that I had a very good memory, and very good declamation skills. They were probably right. I say I had a very good teacher!

It has been a long time since I heard his readings, but I still remember him. He is the reason why I chose to be a teacher. I wanted to be like him.

By: Mary-Ann