Natar McDowell June 2012
I’ve been at Mt. Pleasant Christian School, Inc. for eight school years. I came from a Christian preschool and church called New Creations, not far from Mount Pleasant. I came to Mount Pleasant in 1st grade. Sister Stevenson was my teacher, and she was a very patient teacher. I remember I couldn’t read very well and she would tutor me after school on vowels, and sounds, and things like that. But when she would tutor me I would always giggle and mess around, and not get much work finished.I remember being a somewhat stubborn kid. There used to be this tree in the class, and it would have apples with our names on it, and there would be a basket at the bottom for whoever was misbehaving. When I think back on it, I feel like I was in that basket a lot, but Sister Stevenson assures me that I wasn’t. Anyway, I really enjoyed 1st Grade.
Then, I got to 2nd Grade. I don’t remember much but I do remember we had a teacher named Sister Smith and when we would play Bible trivia games she would give us these tasty jelly beans. I remember asking her where she got them from and she said her parents would mail them to her from Washington; at least that’s what I think she said. But I could never find them anywhere. And to this day I still miss the taste of those jelly beans; they tasted peachy, if I remember correctly.
Then, In 3rd Grade we had Sister Washington. I remember when our class would get especially loud or talkative and she would give us this weird smile and talk all sweetly and everyone would know it was time to hush up.
Then, there was 4th Grade. I think of 4th Grade as more of a beginning for a new me. I had gotten into some foolishness that year, and basically Dr. Haynes told me I had to clean up my act. That’s one thing about Dr. Haynes; she never did give up on me. She became a sort of mentor to me at that period of time. And I will always appreciate that.
Then there was 5th Grade and thank God nothing really interesting happened. 5th Grade wasn’t really particularly memorable. I guess Sister Johnson was the best part. She was like a tough mom. I remember she would always talk to me and give me spiritual advice. I really admired Sis. Johnson, I guess for her overall character, and for the way she cared. She kind of reminds me of my own mom. Tough.
Then 6th Grade came, and it was a breath of fresh air. 6th Grade was my favorite year; pretty much all classmates from 1st grade were gone, leaving Malia, Kevin and the “newbies” from 5th Grade, which is pretty much my class now without our new classmates, Kojo and Donald. Anyway, Brother Johnson was the teacher, and he had tutored me previously in math so I already knew him. When he would tutor me, we would just talk and I would just vent, and he would give me his own advice and scripture from the Bible. 6th grade was the best, we talked to Brother Johnson a lot, we all got closer to God, we goofed off all the time, and that’s what made 6th Grade special.
7th Grade was nice too. Sister Jones-Fosu was our homeroom teacher. In 7th grade she always treated us as equals and helped us excel, we did praise and worship, and we would talk about God a lot, making 7th Grade a really spiritual year. I learned a whole lot with the help of Sis. Jones-Fosu (we all call her Sis. Jones for short) and the math and science teacher . Sis. Jones really made everyone feel like we were a important part of her life. Our science and math teacher was Sis. Griffin, and I think it’s safe to say we all loved her. She taught us different things, and she was so wise even though she was really young. We were all sad she didn’t stay for this year, but she stays in touch.
And now there is 8th Grade left. This year has been pretty simple actually. I guess there’s been a lot of pressure when it came to high school, tests, and life. However all in all this year has been pretty chill, thanks to our teacher Sis. Reid, who never gives up and always tries to teach us new things. She would always try to make things fun and I think she is one of those really considerate teachers who always helps you adjust to new things. Sis. Reid really cares.
And finally, my life at Mount Pleasant has been very interesting and fruitful. I met great teachers, and I got to know God. I grew up in Mount Pleasant, and now it’s over. And you know what? That is really sad. I’mgonna miss the school’s atmosphere. No matter how many times I complained about this place, I’m gonna miss it so bad it hurts. I am going to miss my classmates. I am going to miss Malia. We’ve both been through so much, us both coming from 1st Grade. We’ve shared secrets, sadness, cupcakes, and laughter together. I’m going to miss Jayda. She makes us all laugh and you can stay on FaceTime with her for hours on end. She really listens when all the jokes are over. I’m going to miss 7th Grade. I’m going to miss everyone so much! But especially Morgan and Zion. I love them so much, and even though I know we will always talk and hang out, it’s just gonna be different not being in the gym closet sitting on the bouncy balls and planning out a weekend. Now it will just be on a phone.
But like I said, I grew up in Mount Pleasant, and now it is time to grow somewhere else.