We had a third grade teacher named Mrs.
Bock. She was a gray haired woman in what seemed to be her 60's,
on the heavy side and walked with quick jerky steps. Mrs. Bock was
what everyone wished their grandmother was. Everyone of her pupils
loved her. No one ever had anything but good to say about Mrs. Bock.
Each Friday morning we were given tests on English, spelling,
arithmetic and the other subjects that Mrs. Bock taught. Each test
consisted of ten very easy questions. We had all morning to answer
the questions, about three times more time than we needed. After
lunch we were given a reading assignment to complete while Mrs.
Bock graded the papers.
When the test results were announced various bars of Dairy Maid
chocolate were given out. The chocolate came in red, blue or gold
paper and was either plain, with nuts or with nuts and raisins.
Your grade determined the kind of chocolate you got. Mrs. Bock had
only three grades excellent, good and very good. Everyone went home
with at least four bars of chocolate.
No one ever knew from where or how Mrs. Bock obtained all the
chocolate bars she gave away. There was all sorts of speculation
about Mrs. Bock's source of supply, some guessed legal and some
otherwise.
In later years when I met any former students of Mrs. Bock, we
would always agree about three things, we loved Mrs. Bock, the candy
was delicious and we didn't learn a damn thing in her class.
How often it came true, the teachers we disliked the most were
the ones we later recalled as the ones that were most successful
in teaching us something.
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