t was September of 1966 and I was in Miss Wick’s fourth grade at West Concord Elementary School. We were in the 4E room and it was the week for the Iowa Basic Skills Testing. That was a standardized test that was developed in 1935 to assess the student’s skills in reading, language, mathematics, social studies and science. It was boring for a bunch of nine-year old kids.
So, during the recess after lunch break my friend, Lance, and I discovered a frog in the ditch along the play field where all the children went to burn off excess energy. Finding a frog is normal, catching the frog is common, but putting him in a paper cup we found in the ditch and bringing him back to the classroom is a whole new level of crazy.
I, being the consummate risk taker, carried Kermit, our new green captive back from recess, up to the second floor of the school building and right into the classroom. There I sat, hiding the frog under my desk as class resumed. Our principal, Mrs. Wilson, came around the room, aisle by aisle, handing out the test forms to each one of us. Mrs. Wilson was an older lady, rather short, but kind of intimidating to us students.
When she got to my desk, she noticed something amiss. Both of my hands were not on top of my desk, as directed, and she ordered me to do so. I produced a second-hand paper cup, with my right hand over the top. That didn’t satisfy her query and I was told to show her what was in the cup.
When I removed my hand, the frog took one great leap for freedom. Right out of the cup and into Mrs. Wilson’s face. To my astonishment, she didn’t even flinch. She demanded to know why I had brought a frog into the class and before I could think up a good reason, she told me to catch it quickly. As I crawled across the floor, chasing the hopping reptile, there was laughing and shrieking from my classmates. I believe the boys were all quite amused and the girls exhibiting a much more frightened emotion.
Once the frog was secured, I was instructed to return him to the wild, from whence he came, and as I trudged back to class, I contemplated my fate. This was still during the century where corporal punishment was quite common and expected for an infraction such as this. No amount of soul searching could come up with a logical reason for my latest foolishness.
When I got back to the classroom, I took my seat and started the test, with the certainty of impending doom when I was finished. Much to my amazement, the incident was never mentioned again. I gained a good deal of respect for Principal Wilson after that day.
