May 2025 – Sittin' Ugly Sistahs

Back in 2004 I was teaching AP English IV at Crockett High School. My seniors took their AP Exam in early May. We had studied Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness the weeks before the big exam. I had told them, “This book is only 90 pages long; however, it will be the most challenging book you’ve ever read.”

Some sentences meandered for three quarters of a page, and Conrad smashed the dialogue between different characters into a single paragraph. Conrad helped readers feel the confusion and danger of taking an old steamboat down the Congo River in 1834. The paragraphs were as dense as the jungle, and the characters’ secrets were as dark as their greed. Also, the narrator’s story got more menacing as he got closer to Mr. Kurtz, the ivory merchant he was supposed to take out of the jungle.

While my senior classes endured their 3-hour morning AP exam, I realized that my afternoon classes would be in no shape to study literature that day. My video about free verse poetry and the short story with a surprise ending would hold no one’s interest. Their hands would be tired after writing three literary essays, and their brains would be fried after the exam’s grueling multiple choice section.

During lunchtime I went to the teacher lounge and noticed two large rolls of colored paper in the supply closet – the kind of paper we used to cover bulletin boards or let students make projects with. One roll was green and the other was brown. An idea emerged. I grabbed a box of scissors and a few rolls of masking tape. With ten minutes left of my lunch, I hurried to the art classes downstairs and borrowed a large roll of blue paper and one of black from my favorite art teacher.

She asked, “What are you making?”

I looked at her and smiled. “A jungle!”
Being open-minded, supportive, and cool, she asked no questions and had two art students carry the paper rolls upstairs to my classroom.

My seniors came to class both tired and energized. Some wanted to talk about the AP Exam (which violated the form they had signed to not discuss test details with anyone). Others were hoping for a movie to watch, and maybe one or two came in thinking we might analyze a poem.

I surprised all with, “Today we’re turning our classroom into the Heart of Darkness Jungle!”

First, we brainstormed setting details from Heart of Darkness. They mentioned the Congo River, the steam boat, Krutz’s cabin in the jungle, and the severed heads on poles used to ward off intruders. We decided to use the green, black, and brown paper to make trees and vines to suggest the jungle, the blue for the river, and white to draw the boat and the main characters.

All got into the jungle idea. I told them they had to join a group: Vine Makers, River Workers, Steamboat Builders, and Hut Makers. A few asked if they could make the heads on poles. To receive a 100 for the day’s assignment each student had to help build the jungle and to add a quote from Heart of Darkness. My students worked like large elves on Christmas Eve. Someone even used my computer to blast the song, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” as we worked.

As as an experienced teacher, I’ve had successes some days. Sometimes students really enjoy discussing a thought-provoking story like “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”; or they give star performances of a Hamlet soliloquy; or they cry at the end of Elie Wiesel’s Night. However, so many of my seniors loved building the jungle that the next year I let my sophomores contribute to the jungle by adding details from The Lord of the Flies. One student decided the entrance way needed a waterfall, so people had to push aside the long strips of blue paper as they came to class. Some of my peers told me they’d hate so much chaos and mess in their classroom, but I learned to embrace the wild spirits and high energy of my students.

After a few years of building jungles, I had my coolest teacher buddies (Paul & Janie), who also taught Heart of Darkness, build their own jungles. And the groovy art teacher would visit our classes and give a certificate for “The Best Jungle.” I did not win that certificate, but I did have future students (freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) come to the very first day of school and say, “Hey, Miss, when are we gonna make a jungle in your class?”

In the 1970’s, education experts decided we needed to insert a values curriculum into our daily course work. Through the years there were various curriculum packages, but one I remember was called, “Values Clarification.”

Within the school day, usually homeroom period, teachers would use certain guided lessons to help students broach tough topics or situations, and moral dilemmas. We were encouraged to help students get to know each other on a more personal level, building relationships and creating community.

The year was 1982, and I was teaching high school Home Economics. My classes were filled half with students wanting to learn to cook and hoping to sample what was made, and the other half were football players needing an ‘easy’ credit.

It was the beginning of the semester, and as part of my Values Clarification curriculum, I had asked the students, one at a time, to stand beside their desk, introduce themselves, and tell one special thing about themselves that nobody else knew.

“My name is Alicia, and I can say the alphabet backwards. Z, W, X, V, U, T…..” And the class politely clapped.

“I’m D’Madre, and I can bench press one hundred pounds.” And he flexed his muscles while attempting to pick up an empty desk and push it into the air.

“Whoa, D’Madre,” I said. “We believe you!”

“My name is Celeste, and I can speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Mi ombre es Celeste. Meu nome e’ Celeste.” And everyone applauded.

As we neared the end of the class period I said, “We have time for one more. Bobby, will you make your introduction and tell us something special about yourself?”

Bobby Smith stood up. He was tall, with an athletic build and dark brown eyes. He had the kind of personality that attracted friends like an ant to a picnic sandwich.

“My name is Bobby Smith, and I know all the words to the song, ‘Sexual Healing,” by Marvin Gaye. Do you want me to sing it?”

And before I could take a breath, the class erupted into cheers. He started to dance and hold his ink pen like a microphone.

“Oh baby, let’s get down tonight.”

“Oooh baby, I’m hot just like an oven. I need some lovin.”

“Bobby!” I said. “I think…..”

“Oh Miss, let him finish! We l o v e this song!” And two girls jumped up to chime in as backup singers, “wake up, wake up, wake up…”

“Class! Stop! This is really …”

“I can’t hold it much longer….It’s getting stronger…”

And just when the class broke into the chorus, “And when I get that feeling…I want sexual healing.”

The bell rang.

The class filed out of the doorway, and I motioned for Bobby to stay back.

“Bobby, I think that song was inappropriate for the classroom, don’t you?”

“Ah, Miss, I understand. I won’t do it again, but you have to admit, everyone liked it.” And he gave me a winning smile as he left the room.

I did have to admit, to myself, that it was original, but I silently prayed no one went home saying, “Guess what we learned in Home Economics today?” And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who silently played that song over and over in my mind for the rest of the day.