Even though the stories were something you hope no one has to go through or witness, the student's had something they could talk or write about and all relate too.
The second highlight of the book was dated Thursday November 9, 1967. Mr. Haskins documented that there were ten teachers who were absent in the school. When teachers are absent, there aren't enough substitute teachers to cover those classes. "Those without teachers are spilt up among the other teachers, whose classes in many cases already exceed the maximum of thirty-five-(Haskins, 1969, pg. 20). This entry absolutely shocked me. I couldn't imagine having more than thirty-five children in a classroom. How was teaching get accomplished in an environment like that?.
The third highlight was dated Thursday November 16, 1967. Mr. Haskins mentioned a division between the black and whites teachers because a Negro was appointed principal of the school. "There have been several meetings of black teachers which the white teachers were not asked to attend, although some did. Many whites felt hurt and rejected, and started rumors that the black teachers were antiwhite- (Haskins, 1969, pg.23). This passage really got me thinking. If I were a white teacher, I would be upset too. Divisions and splits within in the faculty only make the learning environment more difficult to teach in. When this book was published, racism was stronger than it was today. The teachers needed to function as one unit, not one white and one black. They needed to set an example for the students who weren't seeing it in their home life. .
The fourth highlight was dated Thursday February 15, 1968. Each class is asked to put on an assembly during the year. Mr. Haskins describes one assembly as follows: "One class put on a superb performance in celebration of Negro History Week. When a teacher asked who Nat Turner was, a boy answered, "He led a rebellion to get whitey-(Haskins, 1969, pg.