August morning in Mississippi

It was another hot August morning in Mississippi in 1991. I can remember the butterflies fluttering in my stomach as I waited for my dad to bring the car around to drive my brother, sister, and I to school. It was a tradition in our family to get driven to school on the first day. It seemed like only seconds had passed before we reached J. E. Johnson Elementary School . I walked into a school that my parents had to attend high school because of segregation, but later they integrated the schools and named the two schools J.E. Johnson Elementary School , and Prentiss High School . I can remember my dad telling me not to forget to get on bus 53 before he left me in the classroom.
The classroom was very attractive with welcome back signs and desks all straight in a row. We basically sat were we pleased until my teacher later assigned seats due to noise levels. My teacher shortly entered the class and told us that her name was Ms. Johnson. Before we knew it, we were learning spelling, reading, and arithmetic. I remember having trouble learning how to add and subtract in math. Ms. Johnson never gave up on me, she continued to help until I got it right.
We did however, get breaks. Ms. Johnson would invite her staff friends to our class and we would watch movies with the light dimmed. Once, I got caught looking under a stall in the restroom by Ms. Johnson, she punished me. Even though the punishment was very lightly given, I felt that I did not do any wrong at the time. I was just looking under the stalls to see if they were occupied. I later learned that the correct way to do it was to knock. I appreciate Ms. Johnson's hard work and diligence with me and my class. Her impact on my education has not been forgotten and is very appreciated. Ms. Johnson left an impact on me to work hard for anything in life. I will take her impact with me when I enter the classroom as a teacher.

Kimberly Bryant
Mississippi Valley State University