NOTE FROM JANIE BOYD

Jake, I'm sending this for you to edit or do whatever you wish with it.

Thanks,

Janie

I taught Spanish and 8th grade Language Arts at Sam Houston from March, 1970 through May 1982 and then became librarian at Crockett. I loved my years at Sam Houston, teaching between Bill Lammes and Dan Johnson. And then Coach David Cottrell was there across the hall from me with his SS class singing country western songs while we were conjugating verbs and rolling our "r's". I read with great interest the comments about Mrs. Eads. She was so good to me--taking my class to allow me to go eat lunch with my daughter when she had a student teacher or a conference at that period. She was a good friend as well as a mentor and an excellent teacher. I agree that she was also a good cook, as Mrs. Knox wrote. However, I also remember the open houses that the homemaking department under Mrs. Knox and Mrs Coffman had and the wonderful goodies that they served. Some of those recipes are still favorites with my family. I'm glad that Jake has started the Blog and hope it will continue to grow.

NEW CLUE

I love it. The previous "post" has peaked someone's interest (see comment), so I am giving you one more clue. They have the same first name, Lisa. Hope that helps. We could use some others to help out. If you know the identity of these two, leave a comment.

We have helped two people make a connection on this blog. Two old friends that had lost touch "found" each other and are communicating now. I just wish alot more of this would happen. There is still hope.

Later,

Jake

WHO ARE THEY?????

First of all, my apologies for the quality of this picture. It's been sitting around for a long time and just recently ran into it. I've been working on my family tree so I've looked at every picture I own several times. So that's how I ran into this picture. So my question to you with what little you have to work with is, who are these girls and if you want to take it a step further, where are they now. One hint for you is that they were inseparable while in the 7th grade. Not sure how that turned out by the time they were in the 9th but at least I know they started out as best friends. Okay, one more clue. They were both in my 7th grade science class the first year at SamHouston - which would be 1973. Any ideas? That's all the clues I'm giving you. Good luck.

Stay in touch.

Jake

LOOK FAMILIAR

Quick note from Kris (Gregerson) Martinez. Jake

They set up construction stuff in front of the school a few months ago and we thought maybe they were going to expand the offices because they removed the trees from in front. When we drove by the other day, we had to stop and check out the front. They put in bricked terraces and the stairs. It looks really cool. Looks like a whole new building and they didn't even touch the actual building. It looks pretty cool.

Mrs. Knox on Sam Houston Jr. Hi

Dear friends,

Mary Lou Knox gave me permission to post this to our blog. I am proud to do so. I too feel we had a great staff and wonderful students. It was one of the best times of my life and I'm not just saying that. I have very fond memories of my Amarillo days. Anyway, enjoy Mary Lou's remarks and leave your comments if you are so inclined. Enjoy:

Jake


Hi to all,

This is Mrs. Knox, the homemaking teacher, and I am delighted that someone wrote about Mrs. Eads. I met her in about 1948 through a mutual friend. She was going to school at WT at the time and so was I. I didn't see her again until I walked into the faculty meeting in September, 1970, the first day I was at Sam Houston. What a surprise to see her and what a wonderful experience to get to work with her. She was truly amazing. She spent her entire career teaching in that room at the end of the hall, and you students probably didn't know that she was a super good cook. The faculty did and we all looked forward to the special times she brought so many goodies to the teacher's lounge we could nibble on them all day long. I still use her recipe for Banana Bread. And Mrs. Pierce's Zucchini Bread is still the best. I noticed in the paper today that Spam is getting popular again because it is low in price, so some of you might want Sarah Leisure's recipe for Spam Salad which is delicious.

Another teacher I enjoyed getting to know was Pat Groom. Her late husband was my late husband's high school basketball coach at Hereford, so I had heard him talk about them for years. What a treat for me to get acquainted with her and work with her! I still hear from her and talk to her on the phone occasionally. Great lady.

You students are not aware that the years we spent at Sam Houston Junior High are probably the best years of our lives. The school had a unique quality that I have never seen equaled. The faculty during the '70's was second to none. As one of the teachers, I can truthfully say that they were my most enjoyable years out of the 35 years I taught. Remember how much fun it was when we walked across the street to the park, sat on the grass and enjoyed Awards Day? I don't know if the kids get to do things like that anymore. Every year on the last day of school just before he rang the bell to dismiss us, Mr. Dial played the hymn, "God Be With You Til We Meet Again." I know that tradition has been done away with. Too bad.

I now live in Cordell, Oklahoma so I can be close to my two brothers. I find it a joy to live in a small town again. The traffic nothing compared to San Antonio's traffic where I lived before moving here last November.

I feel like you do, Jake, I hope more people will write post a word or two so we will know where they are and what they are doing.

Hoping to see more of you contribute to the blog soon!

Mrs. Mary Lou Knox

TRIBUTE TO MRS. EADS

Hello all,

I got this comment to publish today but I thought it was such a beautiful thought that I decided to make it a "Post". It is beautifully written and a great tribute to Mrs. Eads. This would be a great time to leave your thoughts about this great teacher. Ben, I hope you don't mind. Let me know if you do. Jake

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "REMINDER":

I saw the comment from Mrs. Eads' grandchild, who I assume is no longer a child. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but for a long time after I left Sam Houston I often thought that I disappointed Mrs. Eads back there in the ninth grade.

She was a really good teacher and was one of the nicest people I have ever known, and she tried so hard to get me to understand the art of diagraming sentences. For some reason, I could never get the hang of it.There was that, and the fact that I absolutely refused to read "Great Expectations" past about page 30 because back about page 20 the book started depressing me.

Mrs. Eads worked with me far beyond what should be expected of any teacher, and I still didn't get it.

A dozen or so years after the ninth grade -- after several years in the Air Force, a few semesters in college, and a few years writing for the Amarillo newspaper -- I saw Mrs. Eads at Western Plaza.

She remembered me. (How could she have forgotten the most difficult pupil of her career?)She said, "The first time I saw your by-line in the paper I knew it had to be MY Benjamin."That's the last time I remember seeing her. I left the mall thinking that maybe, in the long-run, I hadn't disappointed her afterall.--Ben Keck

REMINDER

Hello All,

I hope everyone is doing well. Things have been kinda quiet on the old blog these days but there is still hope. Every once in awhile I will receive an e-mail letting me know that people still visit and read what's been posted but don't leave any comments. Recently an annonymous writer told me that he (or she) was googling her (or his) grandmother, Mrs. Eads and it took her (him) to our blog. Hopefully that person will tell us her (his) identity, other than she is related to Mrs Eads. There might be some of you that want to share some memories of Mrs. Eads.

Those of you that want to visit the site but don't want to spend the time of looking for new posts or comments, let me know your e-mail address and I will send you notices everytime a new comment comes in. The reason I know that comments are posted is that they come to me for editing and approval before they are posted on the web. So since I see them come in, I don't have to go searching. And I am glad to forward these messages to you if I have your permission to send them to you. All I need is your e-mail address and your permission.

If any of you have any ideas for getting people talking let me know. How about posting current pictures of us (yes you heard me right, I said current pictures). We all know what you looked like back in the 70's but what about what you look like now? We'd all like to know, wouldn't we? The good thing is that you can pick the picture you want to send so you will pick one that catches your best light ... right?? Anyway, just tossing some ideas out there. Let me know what some of your thoughts are.

Stay healthy and happy.

Jake