WE RAISED HIM WELL
By Mrs. Bobbie Briggs, Mrs. Cynthia Freeman, Mrs. Sarah Williams, and Mrs. Denise Vogado
Retired Educators, Maryville City Schools
The year was 1985. The school was Maryville Middle School. The new school year (1985–86) was set to begin. Teachers arrived. The English Department was set with its veterans: Denise Vogado, Bobbie Briggs, and Sarah Williams. Other departments set up shop as well — bulletin boards, rules run off in purple ink from the copying machine, seating charts, textbooks counted. Let’s say we were set in our educational ways, knowing what to expect, feeling secure in our roles. Then up pops a new, young male teacher with a broad smile pasted upon his face that wouldn’t budge. He was light in step, actually bopping around, full of new-teacher energy. When he met the ladies of the English Department, he called us “Miss” and answered us “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am” with that stationary smile and bright, rounded eyes, looking as if they were about to explode with excitement. We hadn’t seen a new one in a few years — or not one like this. Homegrown, already a Maryville diehard. His enthusiasm even budged the ladies of the English Department to smile a little broader (even before Christmas). As he had no books to deal with (he was to teach PE), he immediately offered to help us count, load, and stack books in our classrooms. We could not deny that his presence put a little bounce in our own steps. He even made those long teachers’ meetings more endurable, as we all wanted to be the first to spot his face when the smile faded, the eyes grew heavy, and the head dropped from exhaustion — but it never happened. He was like the Energizer Bunny.
As the year moved onward to Valentine’s Day, the MMS Y-Teens began a fundraiser — selling Valentine messages to be delivered during last period to a secret or not-so-secret Valentine. One of us English teachers was the Y-Teen sponsor. It didn’t take long for Brett to approach, inquiring about the Valentine messages. We assumed he was volunteering to help deliver them. He was always volunteering to help us. He really had too much energy. But no — he wanted to send a Valentine to the young, cute, single, Vandy graduate Maria Cardona, who taught 8th grade PE. Furthermore, he didn’t want to send a silly middle school Valentine message. He wanted poetry — poetry only a seasoned English teacher could provide (that was way before AI).
This began a secret society of English teachers helping Brett in his courting days. We would write poetry; he would slip it to Maria. Soon, we advanced to the first date — and insisted he take her to the Regas Restaurant in Knoxville. That was the beginning of a fine romance. As their relationship blossomed, the secret poetry society of English teachers became more intense. The day came when all the attention the English teachers once received transferred to Maria — and that was OK with us; we were getting tired. We couldn’t keep up.
In no time, it seemed, the two romantics were engaged. We teachers gave a wedding shower for Maria, where we shared marriage advice but never revealed we were the poetry writers. We let her keep believing Brett was the love poet. After their marriage, Brett transferred to Maryville High School, as did one of the English teachers. Never did he lose his smile nor his enthusiasm for teaching and guiding young people.
Brett went on to rise through the ranks at Maryville High School, from teacher to administrator. Even though he left the middle school, the teacher poets had a mole at the high school. Cynthia Freeman, who had been librarian when Brett was a student at Maryville Middle, was now at the high school. In fact, she was the first to mold Brett into the young man entering the wide world of MHS. How? He was her library assistant as an eighth grader. She said his energy level had not tapered off, nor had his humor or his work ethic. Sarah Williams also joined Cynthia at the high school, just in the nick of time, because now there were anniversaries that needed love poetry. Today, the English teacher secret poetry society has all retired, and even our fledgling young Maryville Middle School PE teacher has joined them.
What has not changed, though, is Brett’s energy. He is still the Energizer Bunny. He still carries his love of family, friends, and community. Now he is ready to bring that same enthusiasm and steady leadership to the community he loves, the community where he grew up, and the community where he guided so many young students into adulthood. Yes, we English teachers raised him well. We take full credit.