I first met Robert Lucke when I was a Sophomore at Glasgow High School. He was my English teacher. I was a very shy girl. My friends remember the first time they saw me, I was walking down the hall with my eyes glued to the floor, running my hand along the lockers so I wouldn't run into anyone. I hated English. I now know I had a learning disability, but back then I was just stupid. I couldn't spell at all and therefore couldn't read.
I remember standing in front of the class trying to read and everyone laughing. I also remember standing by my mother while she ironed, and I read and reread the same book until I had it memorized so I could stand and read it in front of the class without everyone laughing. They put me in a special reading group, which just alienated me and made me shyer. I could never figure out phonics, no matter how hard they tried to teach me the rules. Needles to say English was my worst class.
I sat towards the back of his class, didn't want to be called upon. I didn't want to write. I didn't want to read, but Mr. Lucke was different than the rest. He concentrated on creative thinking, asking us to read poetry we couldn't understand and then had us comment on its meaning. He was handing out essay after essay and had the class critique it.
We didn't know they were his writings, and I'm sure he was getting such a kick out of such honest reviews. Then he challenged us to write. He graded everyone's work more on descriptive words and creative thought. He found my work "truly wonderful", "very very good," "best work yet", and "incredible'.
I still have those writings in my memory box. He wanted us/me to fall in love with words. He wanted me to understand the power of words. He wanted me to look at the world and use words to describe how I felt.
He was my teacher for two years, and because of him I've always wanted to write ever since. When, I was a junior I joined speech club and competed in Extemporaneous Speaking. You have a few minutes to pick a subject and then you have one hour to prepare a 6-8-minute speech. Because of Mr. Lucke and the discovery that words are powerful, I actually got very good at it.
Mr. Lucke moved back to Havre my senior year, and I was placed in advance English class only to discover I couldn't write at all. I still couldn't spell and had no understanding of grammar rules or punctuation. During that year I realized if I wanted to write I would find it difficult because I still didn't understand the rules. But my love for words never left me. Mr. Lucke helped me understand that, how I expressed myself was important. There are times I fail miserable, but the deep
love I was taught has carried me my whole life.
And so now I find myself writing for a newspaper with deadlines, with very little time to rewrite and rewrite each article. However, I let the grammar Nazis laugh at me behind my back and I'm ok with that, because the only thing I'm attempting to do is to write articles celebrating who we are. Rural life is worth celebrating.
Mr. Lucke you empowered me. You taught me how to celebrate life with words. You changed my life. Thank You.
