Just Waiting for the Bell! <small><br>by David Wehmeyer</small>

Sometimes I run across a book that has me chuckling from the first page all the way through to the last sentence. But seldom do I find one that does that and gives me hope, inspiration and a general nice feeling about life. This was most certainly one of those reads!

I recently wrote a review on a marvelous collection of inspirational stories from teachers. And I made the statement in that review that beyond a doubt teachers play the most important role in our society today-- bar none.

As I look back over my past, beginning with kindergarten and attending grad school, on through a very fulfilling work career and delightfully exciting and even more fulfilling personal life, raising a family and living in general, I realized that no group of people, family included, has had more influence on my life; every aspect of my life! I am what I am today because of my teachers. I have also observed the state of life of teaches for many years now. I can think of no profession that is quite so under paid, under appreciated, has a more day in and day out grinding task to perform, and so much responsibility. Those “easy jobs” where you only work part of the year and have summers “off” are a complete myth. A teacher is “on” 24/7, three hundred sixty five days of the year.

David Wehmeyer has been an elementary school administrator for over eighteen years now and has been nice enough to share some of his experiences in this position with us with this little work. This is a collection of short recollections of his trials, tribulations, victories and inspirational events that have marked his wonderful career. I must admit that I found myself chuckling from the first to the last page when I read this work, and at the same time found myself profoundly grateful that we have such men and women guiding our children through a most difficult period in their lives. The book, while certainly funny, was also quite comforting.

Mr. Wehmeyer uses a nice crisp prose to tell his story. Nothing fancy, simply quite readable. The author has the wonderful ability to laugh at himself and his foibles which adds an extra charm to the book. He also gives us a very comprehensive inside look into just what administrators and teachers face on a daily basis and it is bound to increase the admiration and respect we should all hold for these wonderfully dedicated people.

The book is broken down into 27 short chapters, each being the separate story taken from the author’s work life as a school administrator. The subject matter is wide, the experiences quite varied and I must say, rather surprising. He address aspects of this important job that those not familiar with the system may not consider; ducks in the hall, tattooed hostile parents and their hostile kids, snow days in Texas, the unenviable task of presenting the “puberty talk” to fifth graders, obnoxious local press, becoming a hot-dog and a plethora of other events we normally would not associate with this position. All these and more are masterfully handled by the author with a sense of humor and positive outlook.

Simply put…this book is well written and was a pure joy to read.

This work would of course make an ideal gift for any school principal, teacher or young person contemplating becoming a teacher. It is a book that should also be read my any parent or grandparent of school age children.

I do highly recommend this read!

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks