TJ HS

Thomas
Jefferson
HS first day
1962 9th grade
I am offered elevator
Tickets half-price which
I decline as there is no elevator
A fact not new to me as I live
Across the street and have
Explored the place for two
Years knowing the place
Where 93-100 was an
“A”, 85-93 a “B”, etc
So I was aware it
Was built to be
A college prep
HS tougher
Than most
Where In
Time I
Would learn
More than expected
But only in the subjects I
Cared about like history art
Geometry literature and journalism
Getting “C”s or even “D”s in trig
Chemistry and the sciences
But more than grades was
The preparation for life
Where completion of
Things was critical
Plus good work
Habits but the
Lesson most
Remembered was
Friendship never to be
Betrayed or abused as there
Was no worse act than betrayal
Of a friend or an ally as such
Acts showed a sign of poor
Character that cancels
Out any academic or
Spurts achievement
Since the trust we
Merit is our most
Important pass
Port in our
Future
Life.
So,
When my
Friend left a
Tack on our first
Period trig teacher’s
Chair and he did not sit
Down until third period the
Explosion worried my friend
Who got me to drive him to the
Trig teacher’s house to confess
That evening and the trig teacher
Let him go with just a warning the
Part I remember best is the trig
Teacher’s house was so small
And on a busy street which
Seemed wrong to me that
A respected trig teacher
Should live in such a
Modest house and
Why society so
Little valued
His job and
What that
Meant to
Values
But it
Has
Never
Made any
Sense to me
How we value
So highly what
Does not help us
And so little what
Does as a society.