MRS. SCHROEDER

Mrs. Schroeder was the special education teacher at Clarke. I never had her. I have no idea what her first name was. She had a tiny office, located just outside the library, near Mr. Trembley's room. She had brown curly hair. She sort of looked like a giant chicken. During 7th grade, she was pregnant.

Although I never had her, I did have a few run-ins with her from time to time. She was very unfriendly. I was only around her because I was friends with Doug Wall. Doug had her for a few classes throughout his day, in 7th grade. He probably had her in 8th grade too.

I really only have two memories of her. Both are from 7th grade. Doug was in with her, after school. I was hanging around with Chris Storlie. We wanted to tell Doug that when he got out, he should come over to my house. But Schroeder refused to let us talk to Doug. And she refused to pass the message on as well. What a bitch! So I had a pretty simple idea. Chris and I walked around for a few minutes, killing some time. When we approached Schroeder's door again (which was closed) I told Chris to kneel on the floor, yell under the door, and just tell Doug to come over. Chris laughed, but pulled it off. Schroeder never even had time to come out and scold us. Chris said his message. Then we left. A little while later, Doug showed up at my door.

The only other memory I have from her is from detention. Different teachers would take turns monitoring detention. One day when I was in there, it was Schroeder's week. After she took roll call, she told Mike Skattebo (a thug, and would-be member of the class of 1988) to move to a different seat. Mike refused. They exchanged a few words. But Mike didn't budge. Schroeder gave up trying. Quite honestly, I might have also. Mike was not a guy to be messed with. Of course Mike is in prison today. Anyway, a few minutes later, Schroeder also asked another kid to move to a different seat. That kid was a 6th grader named Chris Miller. Interestingly, he was apparently a cousin of Mike Skattebo. But while Mike was a big mountain of a man, Chris was a little runt. But Chris wanted to be cocky like his big cousin Mike. He mouthed off too, and refused to move. After a brief confrontation, the pregnant Schroeder grabbed Chris by the ear, and yanked him out of his desk, putting him in another seat. I'm sure he was mortified by the embarrassment.

After I left Clarke, I never saw Mrs. Schroeder again. Where she is today is a mystery. If I knew her first name, perhaps I could track her down.