I found an article in a 1966 Santa Fe New Mexican, a sizable article complete with photo, about Tillie Hawkins retiring from teaching in Santa Fe. The article did not divulge Tillie’s age, but it did say she began teaching at age 16. She was Miss Tillie Branch of Roy, New Mexico then. She began teaching in Santa Fe in 1942 at Alvord Elementary School where she spent the rest of her teaching career.
Mrs. Hawkins had degrees, both bachelors and masters, from the University of New Mexico. She was very active in the community as well, serving as president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and the Disabled Veterans auxiliary. And she was an active member of the state and national education associations as well as the national Classroom Teachers Association.
The article went on to report that her husband, an accountant, died in 1959 and that Tillie had one daughter, Clara Belle, now Mrs. Timothy Taylor of Albuquerque.
The article gushed over Tillie Hawkins and made particular note of her “ebullient enthusiasm so endearing to primary students.” This gave me great pause because that same Tillie Hawkins was my first grade teacher and I was petrified of her.
In 1953, I entered the first grade at Alvord Elementary School. At the time, our family lived at the Sierra Vista Courts, a group of apartments and small houses grouped around a bare dirt “court” next to the railroad tracks, just about where Alarid Street reaches Cerrillos Road. I lived about two blocks from the school which was, and still is, at the corner of Alarid and Hickox.
First grade was my introduction to Mrs. Hawkins. I was very frightened by her. I have no good explanation for this. Maybe, I have a deep-seated fear of ebullient enthusiasm. I know I don’t find it particularly endearing.
Mrs. Hawkins always seemed to be looming over me, all black hair and gleaming teeth. I was so frightened of Mrs. Hawkins that I could barely talk in her presence. Apparently, I just made these squeaking sounds. So my first report card from Mrs. Hawkins came with a note to my parents, recommending that their son be examined for mental retardation. This was in the days before the rise of politically correct terms like, “developmentally delayed” or “mentally challenged.”
It’s funny, now that I think about it, but my puzzled parents were not laughing at the time. The one thing of which they were certain was that their beamish boy was not mentally retarded. After all, I had learned to read and write well before entering school.
But my parents acceded to Mrs. Hawkins suggestion and I was duly tested. The tests revealed I was not a moron at all, but actually quite advanced for my age. I do not know how Mrs. Hawkins reacted to this news because my parents promptly negotiated my transfer to another school and I never saw her again.
I finished the first grade at Salazar School where I did far better under the kind tutelage of Mrs. Theresa Campora, may God bless her. As it turned out, I managed to successfully finish the first grade, the rest of elementary school, then graduate from St. Michael’s High School, get a college degree, then a law degree. I even managed to carve out a successful career in the law profession, serving as a trial judge for many years.
For a long time, I resented Mrs. Hawkins and her hasty and mistaken diagnosis. I even felt a little sorry for myself as a kid tagged as retarded right out of the box. But, after reading the 1966 article, I realized my complaint against Mrs. Hawkins was rather weak in comparison to another of her victims – her own daughter.
You see, the article disclosed that Tillie Hawkins had named her child Clara Belle. This child went through life, until she married Mr. Tim Taylor of Albuquerque, as Clara Belle Hawkins. The poor kid.
Call me a moron, but she’s the one I feel sorry for.
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