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- 06/24/2021
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Adam Blake - 91. Chapter 91
Monday morning our guests started to arrive, James was on the ball and had sorted out the rooms, the seminar would be over on Friday after dinner. A new group would be arriving Monday morning. I had extra copies of my book for any that hadn’t read it.
Welcoming the group,I introduced James who would show them to their rooms. I watched as two left with their luggage at the entrance to the Academy. James looked at me, I shook my head no, James was not a servant.
When he came back down after showing them their rooms, he was laughing. “What happened?”
“I think there will be departures tomorrow.”
Noon, dinner was served. One of the two gentlemen who left their luggage at the door wanted to know why their luggage wasn’t delivered to their rooms. “There are no bell boys at school and James is staff.”
They sat down, weren’t happy, they looked at Camelot, one of them said that isn’t what Camelot was supposed to look like. I knew for a fact that is exactly what Camelot looked like from the description in Malory’s Le Muerte D’Arthur. “That is the Camelot picture in Malory’s book. I have a copy of his book in our library if you would like to compare it” I knew then that this wasn’t going to be a successful seminar.
Marcel had prepared capons with a wild mushroom sauce served with a savory french tart of small fresh vegetables. I thought Marcel outdid himself, my critic said he expected better. We should have a French chef. I went to the kitchen and ask Marcel to come to the table. I introduced Marcel, he spoke to them in French. Several of our guests had eaten in restaurants where he cooked, our two guests weren’t impressed. I thought wait until supper, they would be served a different meal.
After dinner, I started the seminar. I asked who had read my book. Several had read it, the two peacocks hadn’t read it. I took some books and passed them to the ones who indicated they hadn’t read it, want to guess who didn’t read it, and said they had no interest in reading it.
I continued the seminar as I had planned. I talked about reaching intelligent students differently, I used my football experience as proof of the effectiveness. Of course, my experts said, to deviate from the normal teaching methods was to instill in the child he was special. My response, all children are special. I looked at James. I finished my lecture one hour before supper. I told the group they could have supper in their rooms or join us here in the dining hall. Guess who wanted supper in their room.
One of the guests asked if they could have wine with their dinner, I informed him due to the nature of this school and the students enrolled here, no alcohol was permitted on site. Some felt they would have like a glass of wine with their meal. I had Caleb take the trolley to the two prima donnas in their room. I wasn’t sure what Marcel made for them, but I knew I didn’t want to know. Caleb came back and said they were both drinking scotch and saying this seminar was a waste of their time. I looked at James.
The next morning, breakfast was served on the line like always. There were the ingredients for an English breakfast, as well as crepes with a mixed fruit compote. Our two gentlemen looked a little bent over, so I made announcements very loud. I could see they had a headache. When we all sat down with our breakfast, my friend noticed the Oath. “What is that and don’t tell me that is also King Arthur.”
I had enough, “For someone in your position you seem very ignorant about your history. Have you ever read anything about King Arthur and did you know he was fiction and it is believed that the stories spun were about a Roman legionnaire.”
“I have been in the teaching profession longer than you have been born.”
“And from what I can tell, doing it wrong. Sir, you may have held the position but your methods are way outdated. How many of your students left with the feeling of inadequacy or feeling that they weren’t smart enough to compete. In my opinion, there are no dumb students, only teachers who teach to a strict regimen that ignores the upper and lower percentile.”
“I’m not going to waste my time listening to this dribble. I want to leave now, have my bags brought down.”
“There’s a car out front waiting for you and as for your bags, you’ll have to get them yourself. Please make sure you take your alcohol with you.”
“You’ll hear about this. I’ll report this behavior to your board.”
One of the teachers who read my book knew who I was, He whispered in the ear of his friend, his eyes grew large when he realized my title.
He went to speak to his colleague, but he wouldn’t stop. He got into the car and left.
“I realize that this seminar is perhaps a little different from what you expected, if you want to leave, that’s ok. Two teachers came up to me, and apologize but they work for the man and didn’t want to get in trouble. I understood, they had my book, I wrote my phone number and told them to call anytime. By the time everyone had left, who was going to leave, I had half the class I started with.
The rest of the week went very smoothly, I asked each participant to tell about a difficult situation. Then as a class, they discussed it and proposed solutions. I was making progress on some level.
Friday, I was ready to see my family. Hans had started the chalet, Mom and Dad had brought the boys back. I listened to their tales all night until they fell to sleep in a nest on the floor.
“You look tired?”
“I am, let’s sit on the porch.”
We did and I unloaded to my Dad, Mom and Marie came out and listen. “I just can’t understand why people need to show they have a privilege over someone else. In the end, they must stand before the Maker alone.”
“I hope next week is better”
Next week was better, the food was great and the mix of teachers tended to be younger. They thought in lieu of using a sport to developing team spirit, I had found a clever way in using the fables of Arthur. During breaks several asked about the college being constructed, I told them, they asked about degrees, I told them and a few asked when would I begin to hire teachers. Some of the teachers asked if we had a gym. I showed them the gym which also included the pool. I asked if there were any runners, then I showed them the track. This definitely was a different group.
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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