Letter: Columnist's tribute to teacher struck a nerve

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November 24, 2009

Anonymous The Salem News Tue Nov 24, 2009, 12:11 AM EST

To the editor:

Regarding columnist David Shribman's recent piece on his fifth-grade teacher at the Stanley School (Students took flight in Miss Waterman's Swampscott classroom, Saturday, Oct. 24):

I hope everyone had the opportunity to read it. He reminisced about his teacher, Clara Waterman, who taught math along with science and was soon to turn 100 years old.

Now, this was a teacher! Having graduated from the Western Maine Normal School in 1928 at 19 years of age, I suspect she had no advanced degrees and probably only a two-year associate's degree. This says that the quality of a teacher doesn't depend upon courses taken or the letters following their names.

There were 28 students in her 1964 classroom, considerably more than the 18 or 20 now, and almost certainly no teacher's aide.

John Meers

Ipswich

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