Dear Editor:
On November 7th and 8th, there was a Forensic meet in Shreveport, La., in which our Forensic squad, headed by Rick Rhodes, was planning, and did attend. All squad members were to meet in the parking lot behind the Humanities building at 11:00 o’clock, Friday morning, with bags packed, dressed, and ready to go. All members arrived promptly as scheduled, but one, who had made previous arrangements with the teacher to pick the student up at the Rock Store on Highway 71 South, in order to save this student, who lives in this area, a needless trip to town. The plans of this arrangement had been made directly by the student, to the teacher, who agreed, since the student made clear as to how the store was right on the Hwy and no side trips would have to be made.
On the following day, Friday morning, Nov. 7, the student was at the Rock Store on Hwy 71 South, waiting, with bags packed, dressed, and ready to go, for Rick Rhodes to arrive with the other students. The student continued to wait there for 45 minutes, then, with restless anticipation, decided to walk in the store and call the school to see if the others had left. But at this point, the student turned around just in time to see Rick Rhodes and the other students pass hurriedly by without stopping.
With much ado, and a bit offended, the student impetuously drove on down to Fouke, thinking that Mr. Rhodes had misunderstood and would stop in Fouke. But after looking through each store in Fouke, the student realized that Mr. Rhodes had not stopped.
With much hurt and disappointment, the student returned home and unpacked her bags. About fifteen minutes later, the phone rang and it was Mr. Rick Rhodes calling collect from someplace, apologizing to the student, but did find mercy in his heart to ask the student to perhaps catch up with them, or drive on down to Shreveport. This was a useless endeavor, since they were having to meet a 1:30 p.m. registration time limit for the contest, and they were late as it was. Needless to say, the student questioned Mr. Rick Rhodes’ responsibility.
The purpose of my writing this letter is to publicly make known the hurt and resentment that this student felt after this small, yet very important mishap occurred, for I am that student.
Also, there is a valuable lesson in this happening that I wish to convey to all teachers. On any occasion where students must attend different functions in other cities or colleges, please make sure you know exactly where your students are to meet, and any special requests, such as the one in this letter, are clear and understood fully. If a student fails to make himself clear on any special instructions, please do not hesitate to ask, for I know that the student would much rather repeat himself on instructions, than to be left behind.
Yours truly,
Holly Tant