We have recently had the good fortune to be in touch with an old friend from Amenia, Ken McKean. Ken grew up in Amenia and now lives in Florida having had a distinguished Air Force career. We wanted to do a little reminiscence about Mrs. McKean for the Schoolhouse Blog. When we asked Ken what he might feel about such a thing, he answered in the affirmative and included this brief little scene:
Time--- 1947/48
Setting--- Amenia High School---- Freshman classroom
Teacher--- Mrs. Rose S. McKean
Student--- Kenneth R. McKean
Situation--- Either Algebra 1 or Latin I class
Teacher asks-- are there any questions?
My hand goes up--- am never recognized!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Situation--- home on South Street in Amenia
Kenneth comes downstairs from doing homework with a question concerning either Latin or Algebra homework
Mother, sitting at dining room table grading papers, tells me for the 257th time, "Kenneth--- you know I am your teacher and cannot give you extra help at home" !!!!
End of Freshman year: Social Studies = A, English= A, Biology= A, Latin= D & Algebra = D.
Fall of 1948 I commence my plebe year @ Culver Military Academy, IN--the turning point in my road to "book learnin" & maturity.
I learned in later years that Miss Staunton, Mrs. Foley, Mr. Bonville, Miss Cogan & Mrs. Tripp, all counseled her to at least give me a chance ? !
Looking back---- a blessing in disguise?
Rose S. McKean was one of that cadre of very fine teachers that made up the Amenia High School, later to be the Webutuck Central School , faculty. Mrs. McKean had the thankless job of introducing endless numbers of the local progeny to Latin and French. She never gave it less than her best. For some of us it was a mystery never to be penetrated. For others of us, however, it was as if a light had gone on in our social and intellectual development.
Mrs. McKean’s favorite trick on Day One (or is it Day I?) of Latin I was to arrive for the class carrying three dictionaries--Latin, French, and English. She proceeded to demonstrate that fully half of the English dictionary came from the Latin one. She illustrated this by opening the English dictionary to the middle and leaving it flat on her desk. But fully ninety percent of the French dictionary came from the Latin one! That, too, was deposited on her desk in a ninety to ten ratio. It was a stunning object lesson to the novices who were about to embark on the study of a dead language.
Mrs. McKean knew as well as anybody that to study a language is not only to learn the grammar and vocabulary, but it also to enter a different civilization, a different world view, and a different way of thinking. For me her enthusiasm was everything. She encouraged one to learn to learn more deeply about the individual culture. That is precisely what happened to me at university where I pretty much devoured what the French department had to offer. I was always assured that my background was so strong, I would have an enjoyable time of it. And so I did.
Time--- 1947/48
Setting--- Amenia High School---- Freshman classroom
Teacher--- Mrs. Rose S. McKean
Student--- Kenneth R. McKean
Situation--- Either Algebra 1 or Latin I class
Teacher asks-- are there any questions?
My hand goes up--- am never recognized!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Situation--- home on South Street in Amenia
Kenneth comes downstairs from doing homework with a question concerning either Latin or Algebra homework
Mother, sitting at dining room table grading papers, tells me for the 257th time, "Kenneth--- you know I am your teacher and cannot give you extra help at home" !!!!
End of Freshman year: Social Studies = A, English= A, Biology= A, Latin= D & Algebra = D.
Fall of 1948 I commence my plebe year @ Culver Military Academy, IN--the turning point in my road to "book learnin" & maturity.
I learned in later years that Miss Staunton, Mrs. Foley, Mr. Bonville, Miss Cogan & Mrs. Tripp, all counseled her to at least give me a chance ? !
Looking back---- a blessing in disguise?
Rose S. McKean was one of that cadre of very fine teachers that made up the Amenia High School, later to be the Webutuck Central School , faculty. Mrs. McKean had the thankless job of introducing endless numbers of the local progeny to Latin and French. She never gave it less than her best. For some of us it was a mystery never to be penetrated. For others of us, however, it was as if a light had gone on in our social and intellectual development.
Mrs. McKean’s favorite trick on Day One (or is it Day I?) of Latin I was to arrive for the class carrying three dictionaries--Latin, French, and English. She proceeded to demonstrate that fully half of the English dictionary came from the Latin one. She illustrated this by opening the English dictionary to the middle and leaving it flat on her desk. But fully ninety percent of the French dictionary came from the Latin one! That, too, was deposited on her desk in a ninety to ten ratio. It was a stunning object lesson to the novices who were about to embark on the study of a dead language.
Mrs. McKean knew as well as anybody that to study a language is not only to learn the grammar and vocabulary, but it also to enter a different civilization, a different world view, and a different way of thinking. For me her enthusiasm was everything. She encouraged one to learn to learn more deeply about the individual culture. That is precisely what happened to me at university where I pretty much devoured what the French department had to offer. I was always assured that my background was so strong, I would have an enjoyable time of it. And so I did.
One of the interesting things about working in a language that is not your own is that you do begin to see the logic, the rhyme and reason of the other country, if you will. In my case, I learned this rule again from her when I ran into trouble with first year Algebra. It was a complete and total mystery to me, and I began to fail badly. Fortunately for me, my parents asked Mrs. McKean to tutor me; to see if she could get me going. She approached it as if we were learning another language with its own syntax, rules of grammar and such. Within a few weeks she had me seeing the light.
And to this day I think of Mrs. McKean whenever I hear someone say something involving unknowns; I find myself saying ‘ Two trains leave Chicago at the same time going in different directions… ‘
Barnett Epstein
Barnett Epstein
If you wish to comment on this reminiscence, add some details or send Barney a message, write to IndianRockschool@aol.com
Want to write your own story about a teacher who changed your life? Same address. Send Word file, and a JPEG photo 72 to 150 dpi.
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