Clark and Michaud

[Left: Mr. George H. Clark, B.A., Brown University, Rhode Island -- 7th and 8th Grade Math and Science. Right: Mr. Daryl L. Michaud, Wesleyan University, Nebraska -- 7th and 8th Grade English, History, Reading, Spelling.] The above gentlemen were my wonderful teachers during my tenure at ENMS in the 7th and 8th grades. They were all business and well respected by everyone. [Take a good look at the classroom facilities behind the photos of Mr. Clark and Mr. Michaud. You can see these weren't state of the art facilities. From what I understand, originally these were garages for patrons of the "country club" for storing their automobiles and that LTC Conklin later converted to classrooms when he purchased the facility. I believe there was a fire that destroyed all or part of these classroom facilities after brother Steve and I left ENMS. Check out the ENMS campus as of 2002 and there is nothing but dirt at the far left where the classrooms (garages) once stood.] Mr.Michaud (we pronounced his name like "me-shew" -- French?) was unique in that he was shorter than even most of his students -- a little person? He was physically powerful and dynamic. (Note that a 1953 high school champion wrestler by the name of Darly Michaud is listed for Lincoln High.) Also, I think that he and his wife had a child during my time under his tutelage. During my second year at ENMS, all the instructors were awarded rank and wore military uniforms. Mr. Michaud became First Lieutenant Michaud and Mr. Clark became Captain Clark. Thanks for everything LT Michaud and CPT Clark. You both were great! [A major memory I have of Mr. Michaud was when I alerted him that I had just found out about President Kennedy being assassinated. In fact if you look directly behind him you'll see the drinking fountain where I learned this fact from a student walking by during a break with a transistor radio up to his ear. Mr. Mischaud put class on hold to walk down to the Principal's office to check it out and wasn't gone but for a second when he reappeared and said President Kennedy was dead because our flag on the parade ground was at half mast.] Mr. Clark's classroom was directly behind Mr. Mischaud. While the 7th graders were in Mr. Michaud's classroom, the 8th graders were in Mr. Clark's classroom and vice verse. Mr. Clark commanded a different kind of respect. Where Mr. Michaud was more youthful and around our own size or even smaller, he felt like your older brother or maybe your uncle was in charge. Mr. Clark on the other hand, had a gruffer voice, smoked, was older, heavy set, taller than his students and acted very managerial. However, once you got to know him, his kindness surfaced. [Mr. Clark caught me and another student cheating one day. During a test we were looking off each other's test paper and he called us both up to the front of the class and gave us a thorough tongue lashing and then asked us to hold out our hands and with his ruler he smacked them several times very hard and then told us to never do that again and go back to our seats. I thought for sure we were goners as all I could see was us being turned in for cheating and that would have resulted in 25 or 50 demerits which meant being campused for several weeks and doing tours, etc. But, he didn't turn us in and that was the last time I ever looked over at someone else's exam. I was so embarrassed that I swore to myself that if ever I flunked an exam or course I would preserve my dignity by taking full credit for having accomplished the awesome feat on my own.] Mr. Clark is standing just a few feet from the entrance to his classroom (at his immediate left facing us -- not the building behind him). At the back corner of his classroom was a tree where I threw up. The entire corps of cadets had come down with some kind of gastrointestinal bug and we weren't blaming the cooks. I remember how ill we all became and it was significant enough to place us all in our beds for a few days -- a campuswide quarantine, if you will. [Over all, I was a pretty good kid and kept my nose clean. I avoided fights and conflicts. However, inevitably there was one of two other kids at ENMS that you just didn't get along with. One particular kid in class had a smart ass personality that begged to be remedied after his come-back antagonistic remarks. When he called my mother a terrible name in Mr. Clark's classroom while everyone else was on break, including Mr. Clark outside having a smoke (about where he's standing in above photo), well, I tore into this kid and took him out. The ruckus was so loud that Mr. Clark ran into the room to pull me off this kid and when I came to my senses I immediately took off for Mr. Sewell's office, the Principal, ready to receive the consequences. Mr. Sewell checked back with Mr. Clark and I was released to go back to class and nothing ever came of this incident. I thought for sure I was doomed to 25 or 50 demerits and being campused and tours but evidently after checking things out, Mr. Clark and Mr. Sewell decided to not pursue the matter further.] One other tid-bit about Mr. Clark. He had been a good friend of Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame. One day, he pulled from his wallet a couple of photos of him with Mr. Laurel on the Santa Monica Pier. Sorta made me think that there was a side to Mr. Clark's life outside of ENMS that was pretty wide and deep. We didn't know that Stan Laurel died February 23, 1965. However, maybe that's why Mr. Clark shared the memory of his dear friend with us. Check it out: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL3mHPmNKRE]