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BY: So when you came back to Seattle from Richland, you had talked about teaching at Immaculate, is that right?

HH: Yeah, Immaculate middle school.

BY: Right. And so what was that like?

HH: [Laughs] It was a circus.

BY: What do you mean by that?

HH: Everything that you would think would not happen in a school, happened. I taught in the Central District. And we had three seventh grades and two sixth grades and two eighth grades, I think. So I had seventh grade, and the other two seventh grade teachers were from New York, and they belonged to an organization called the Jesuit... it was kind of like the Peace Corps where they went out to help others. And these teachers came from New York thinking, well, they're coming to an inner city school. And so kids would be unruly, probably, and they were here to conquer the world. So they said, "We'll just let the kids do what they want to do." And, of course, the principal and other teachers, permanent teachers didn't have the same mindset, we treat the kids like they should be treated in the school.

But one day, there was just a whole lot of noise from the classroom across from me. And they have clear windows so we could see in. And it was so noisy that I thought, "Oh, gee, the teacher's gone, I better go in and see what I can do to calm them down." But the teacher was there. She was at her desk, working with somebody, helping them. And right next to her was a sixth grader, I guess it was, huge guy with a basketball just right above her head, was throwing the basketball against the wall. And then there was another, I guess it was seventh grade, another kid riding the library cart all around the classroom, making all sorts of noise. And then, of course, all the other classmates were not studying or anything, they were just having lots of fun while this poor teacher was just intent on helping this one kid, which was admirable, I guess. I just looked at it and I thought, "No, I'm not getting into this," so I just went back to my classroom. And one time, one of these kids lowered a chair with a rope down through the window, past the eighth grade classroom. So that was kind of fun for them to see. But other things like that happened a lot.

BY: So you were there for one year or two years?

HH: I lasted a year. [Laughs]

BY: You lasted a year. And then you said you got into administration, was that right?

HH: Yeah, then I went to the Immaculate High School and helped out there. I think I was there two years.

BY: But then ended up back in Spokane, you said?

HH: I think that's the order.

TI: So this was essentially the same schools that you had attended?

HH: Yes, but a different location. They had moved by then.

TI: Okay, but Immaculate.

HH: Uh-huh, high school and grade school.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.