The Amish Teacher's Dilemma and Healing Their Amish Hearts

by Patricia Davids

  “He will. I’ll see to it as soon as he comes home. I know the boy. He won’t miss lunch.” Willis began pumping the bellows.

  She took a step back, feeling dismissed. She certainly couldn’t make Willis leave his work and go searching for his errant brother. She walked out of the forge and saw Maddie sitting on a swing in the school playground. Maddie spied her at the same time and gave a halfhearted wave.

  Eva walked over to the playground and took a seat beside Maddie in one of the swings. “I’m not sitting on Bubble, am I?”

  Maddie shook her head but kept her eyes downcast. “She’s not here. She had to go home for a while. She was missing her mother.”

  “I see.” So was one lonely little girl unless Eva missed her guess. “You seem sad today. Is something wrong?”

  Maddie slanted a glance at her. “Do you think the other kids will laugh at me because I talk to Bubble? Otto says they will.”

  “It isn’t right to poke fun at another person. I will make sure everyone knows that. The Lord wants us to be kind to each other.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Did you see your brother Otto leave the school a short time ago?”

  Maddie nodded and pointed toward the woods behind the building. “He went to see Harley.”

  “Can you tell me where I can find Harley?”

  “Harley likes to visit his friend, Mrs. Arnett. She has a farm beyond the woods. You can follow the path through the trees, but Harley says I can’t go that way because I’m too little and I might get lost in the woods.”

  Eva tried to think of a way to cheer the child. “You can come with me. Would you like to do that?”

  Maddie shook her head. “I’m going to wait here for Bubble.”

  “I understand.” Eva stepped out of the swing and headed into the woods. The trees grew close together and the underbrush was thick and leafy. Within a few steps she couldn’t see the school building behind her.

  Several game trails crossed the footpath, and once she took the wrong trail but quickly realized her mistake and returned to the correct one. Harley was right not to let Maddie take the path alone. She stopped when she thought she heard her name being called, but when it wasn’t repeated she decided she had been mistaken.

  After nearly half a mile she came to a neat farmstead with a big red barn and white painted fences. There was a young woman on her knees in a garden plot. Eva approached her. “Excuse me, is this the Arnett farm?”

  The woman sat up and brushed her shoulder-length dark hair out of her eyes with the back of her wrist. “It is. I’m Lilly Arnett. How can I help you?”

  “I’m Eva Coblentz. I’m looking for Harley Gingrich. Is he here?”

  “He was but he left with his brother Otto a short time ago.”

  “I didn’t meet them in the woods. Is there another way back to New Covenant?”

  Lilly smiled and pointed toward the nearby highway. “I let them take one of my horses. You will find the county road is easier walking, but it is a little longer. Harley said he would be back later to finish mowing the lawn. I can give him a message.”

  Eva smiled. “Tell him his new teacher needs to speak to Otto.”

  “I’ll let him know.”

  “Danki.” Eva chose to walk back to the school on the roadway rather than tramping through the woods again. She could only hope that Otto had returned to finish his task.

  When she reached the school, Maddie was gone. A black-and-white pony stood patiently at the hitching rail in front of the school. The door of the schoolhouse stood open. Eva stepped inside. Harley was sitting at a student desk in the first row. Otto was at the blackboard writing out his assignment. Eva gave a deep sigh of relief. She had been prepared for a battle of wills with him. It seemed that wasn’t going to be necessary.

  She watched and waited quietly until Otto turned to his brother. “That’s all, right?”

  Harley walked up to the board and began counting the lines. “Yep. I count one hundred. Now I got to get back to the Arnett place.”

  “Danki, brudder.”

  The boys grabbed their hats from the pegs on the wall and walked past her. “I’m glad you finished, Otto.” She wanted to ask him why he had been so upset earlier but decided it could wait.

  She walked to the blackboard, picked up an eraser and was about to rub out Otto’s work when she noticed something was wrong. She looked at the first sentence on the board. It was clearly a different hand than the rest of the work. First sentence was neat with the words well spaced. The next sentence, while correct, wasn’t neat. Some of the words were smooshed together while there were extra spaces between some of the letters. The more she looked the more she saw errors. Some of the letters were actually backward. A few words had missing letters. She put the eraser down. Otto’s writing skills were far below his grade level. She decided to get Dinah’s opinion and ask her what she thought.

  She left the school and was walking toward her house when she heard Willis call her name. She stopped and saw him jogging toward her. He came to a halt a few feet away and rubbed the palms of his hands on his pant legs. “I wanted to apologize for being abrupt with you earlier. Please forgive me. I have so much work to catch up on. Otto is at home if you are still looking for him.”

  “He returned a short time ago and finished his work. I’m sorry I bothered you earlier. I’m new at teaching and I feel the need to panic at least once a day.”

  He gave a halfhearted smile. “I’m new at parenting, and I feel the need to panic all day, every day. I’m sorry Otto was rude to you.”

  “Come with me. There’s something you should see.” She led the way back inside the school and walked up to the blackboard. “This is Otto’s work.”

  He looked at the board. “Okay?”

  “Look at his writing.”

  “I am. He finished the assignment, right? If that’s all I should get back to work.”

  “He finished by copying the sentences his brother wrote out for him. I don’t think Otto could do it by himself.”

  “So he had a little help. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “He has turned some of the letters around. He has copied all the letters but he hasn’t divided them into the proper words. Right here he wrote, I will respect school property.”

  “Okay, so his writing needs work. You will have the next nine months to help him improve. That’s what a good teacher does, right?”

  “Among other things. I don’t think you are taking this seriously.”

  “Maybe I’m not. A few scrawls on the blackboard don’t put food in the mouths of hungry kids. That takes hard work. Not busywork.”

  * * *

  Willis needed to get out of the building. It felt like the walls were closing in on him. He didn’t see what was wrong with Otto’s work and he didn’t want Eva to know he possessed fewer writing skills than his little brother.

  Her gaze was piercing, and he flinched from it. “Reading and writing are not simply busywork, Willis. They are the foundation by which we learn everything from God’s Word to the latest baseball scores.”

  “You’re right. You’re the teacher and the teacher is always right. Even I learned that in school.”

  “This isn’t about who is right and who is wrong.”

  “I don’t know why you are getting angry,” he finished lamely.

  “Because I get the feeling that you don’t care about Otto’s education or his future.”

  “I care that the boys will be able to put food on the table for their families. That will take farmland, which I don’t have much of yet, or it will take a skilled trade. That is something I have and can teach them.” He turned and headed out the door, wondering if he had revealed his own shortcomings. Eva wasn’t a woman who could be easily fooled.

  “Willis, wait.”

 
He stopped at the bottom of the school steps. She was a tenacious woman, too. “I thought we were finished.”

  She stopped, framed in the doorway. Her green eyes brimmed with some deep emotion. “I don’t mean to criticize how you are raising your brothers and sister. I know it can’t be easy for you. I’m sorry for saying that you don’t care about their education. It’s no excuse but I find myself in uncharted territory. I may have crossed the line just now but I have no idea where the line should be drawn or how to change it. And that rambling explanation is my way of saying I’m sorry. I will limit my lectures to my scholars and try not to offend their parents or guardians.”

  “You’re forgiven. If the boy has trouble in school let me know and I will speak to him about it.”

  “Fair enough.” She arched one eyebrow. “I don’t have many friends in this new place. I’d hate to lose the first one I made here.”

  “You haven’t lost me. I live just across the road.” He nodded in that direction.

  A sliver of a smile curved her lips. “I should be able to find my way over if I try hard enough.”

  “I suspect you can be a very determined woman when you put your mind to something.”

  “I have occasionally heard my name associated with that adjective.”

  “Occasionally?”

  “Perhaps frequently might be closer to the truth.” Her grin widened.

  “I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone like you,” he said in amazement.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down. “A bossy old maid who speaks her mind isn’t that rare of a creature.”

  “Perhaps not but I think you are one of a kind, Eva Coblentz.”

  Chapter Six

  Eva watched from the doorway as Willis returned to his workshop. He might consider her unique, but she placed him squarely in the same category. In a society that valued the community above the individual and encouraged conformity, finding someone who wasn’t offended by her outspokenness was rare.

  She looked back at the writing on the blackboard. Her instincts said Otto’s angry attitude was more than a simple dislike of school. Dinah was the person she hoped could help her solve the riddle of the troubled child.

  Two hours later Dinah and Mrs. Kenworthy, a schoolteacher from the local public school, studied the blackboard carefully. Eva was grateful Dinah had been free on such short notice and had wholeheartedly agreed with her suggestion to call one of the local teachers to render another opinion. “What do you think?”

  “Otto is eleven so he must be in the fifth grade?” Dinah looked over her shoulder for confirmation.

  “That is my understanding. Harley is thirteen and will be a seventh-grader. Maddie is seven and will start the first grade.”

  Mrs. Kenworthy shook her head. “This is not the work of a boy in the fifth grade. It could be he has a learning disability.”

  “Could it be simple bad penmanship?” Eva asked. Was she making a mountain out of a molehill?

  Mrs. Kenworthy’s mouth twisted to the side. “I see more than that. For the most part he has the letters in the right order but he doesn’t seem to realize that they aren’t grouped into the correct words.”

  “For one boy in my former community, the problem was as simple as needing glasses,” Dinah said.

  “Aren’t all Amish children given hearing and vision exams when they start school?” Eva asked.

  “They are in Maine,” Mrs. Kenworthy said.

  Dinah turned away from the blackboard. “The vast majority of Amish students are tested by public health officials in their area, but not all. I’m sure it will be in his records from his previous school.”

  Eva held her hands wide. “I don’t have them yet. The children haven’t even been officially enrolled. I have reminded Willis that he needs to get it done but he seems overwhelmed with his new responsibilities. I hate to bother him with one more thing.”

  Dinah scowled. “Shall I have my husband talk to him about it?”

  Eva shook her head. “We have a few more weeks before classes begin. If he hasn’t turned in the forms by Friday I will speak to him again.”

  Mrs. Kenworthy tapped the writing on the blackboard with one finger. “The sooner you can address what is wrong with young Otto, the better off he will be. It appears someone is willing to help. The first line is in an entirely different hand. You think it was his older brother?”

  “That was my assumption,” Eva said. “I think he wrote out the sentence for Otto to copy and stayed with him until the assignment was finished.”

  “Speak to Harley,” Dinah suggested. “Perhaps he can give you some insight. That way you won’t have to bother Willis again.”

  “All right I will.”

  The three women walked outside. Dinah tipped her head toward Willis’s home. “Is Maddie still conversing with her imaginary friend?”

  Eva looked around for the child. “I’m not sure. I saw her earlier and she said that Bubble had gone home to visit her mother.”

  Mrs. Kenworthy laughed heartily. “Children do say the most amazing things. That is one thing we should warn you about. As a teacher you will hear many things parents never expected would be repeated in school. Do not be fooled into repeating it as gossip because most times the children have it all wrong.”

  “Thank you for the advice. I will take it to heart and seal my lips.”

  Mrs. Kenworthy walked down to her car. Dinah turned to Eva. “I had best get home. The bishop and his wife are coming over for supper this evening along with Gemma, Jesse and Hope. I can’t get enough of my grandbaby. I praise Gott he let me live long enough to see and enjoy her.”

  “How did her doctor visit turn out?” Eva asked.

  “Healthy and happy was the diagnosis the doctor gave Jesse and Gemma. Hope is still small for her age, but she is catching up.”

  Eva smiled with relief. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  Dinah started to walk away but stopped and turned back to Eva. “You are welcome to join us for supper. I made plenty of fried chicken, Gemma is bringing a casserole and Constance Schultz made some fresh apple pies for dessert.”

  “Danki, but I have more homework. I never knew there was so much paperwork involved in teaching.”

  “Oh, I remember those days. And the long nights getting everything ready for the first day of class. Being a wife and a mother was the fulfillment of a dream for me, but I do miss teaching at times. All those bright faces so eager to see me in the mornings. It is a satisfying profession and one that isn’t always valued as it should be. Don’t forget that other teachers, Amish and Englisch, are willing to help you get off to a good start. Several of the teachers at our public school have stopped in to tell me they will miss having Amish children in their classes.”

  “Thank you again for your help and tell Gemma and Jesse that I said hello.”

  “This coming Sunday is the off Sunday in our community so no prayer meeting. We will expect you to come visit us, and homework will not get you out of it.” Dinah smiled as she issued her invitation.

  Eva inclined her head. “I wouldn’t dream of missing an afternoon in the company of you and your family.”

  Harley came strolling past the school, headed for home. “Good evening, Teacher. Good evening, Mrs. Lapp.”

  “Harley, can I speak to you for a moment?” Eva said.

  “Sure.”

  “I have to get going. Let me know what you find out,” Dinah said.

  Eva turned her attention to Harley. She sat down on the steps of the school and motioned for him to do the same. “I noticed that you helped your brother with his writing assignment today.”

  “All I did was write it once. He did the rest.”

  “Maddie tells me Otto doesn’t like school.”

  “Maddie talks to an imaginary kid named Bubble. I’m not sure you can believe
much of what she says.”

  “Good point. Still, Otto has given me the same impression. Can you tell me why?”

  “School is hard for him. Our last teacher never wanted to help him, so I do. He’s smart. He’s not stupid and people shouldn’t say that he is.”

  “I would never call someone stupid. I’m sorry that your brother has been hurt by careless people. I will do everything I can to make Otto feel he is a valuable member of my class. At your last school did the children have their eyes checked?”

  “Sure. And they checked our hearing, too. Why?”

  “I haven’t received those records, so I wanted to make sure the tests had been done.” That was one reason she could eliminate for Otto’s problem. “Has Otto always had trouble in school?”

  “I think so. Mamm used to spend a lot of time helping him with his reading. Daed used to say he was just being lazy. Can I go now?”

  “Of course.”

  He hopped up and jogged toward home. Eva remained on the steps. Mrs. Kenworthy had confirmed what Eva had thought. It seemed Otto would need additional help from her.

  Harley stepped out the door of the Gingrich house and cupped his hand around his mouth. “Send Maddie home for supper.”

  “She’s not with me,” Eva shouted back. The playground was empty and the child hadn’t been with them in the school.

  Harley waved and went back inside. Eva rose and walked the short distance to her house. She turned on the oven and pulled a turkey potpie from the freezer. She heard footsteps on her porch and looked at the screen door.

  Willis pulled the door open and came inside. “Have you seen Maddie today?”

  She tensed at the concern in his voice. “Not since this morning. She was on the swing set and said she was sad because Bubble had gone home to see her mother.”