Jane Wayne

 

Growing up I had a favorite spinster aunt who we jokingly called Jane Wayne. I always felt Jane and I were kindred spirits because we both seemed to be rather shy and awkward around other people, including each other. Because of this I always felt rather sorry for Jane and what I perceived as her solitary, lonely life. It’s only been recently, as I dug into old pictures and writings Jane kept, that I began to see another side to Jane.

Jane was my father’s much older sister. She was born on Sunday, November 30, 1912 on a farm a few miles north of a small town called Medcalf, Illinois. For seventeen years, Jane and her two sisters, Francis (1911) and Charity (1914), had their parents, Edith and Orval Henry, all to themselves. Then along came my dad, Orval Martin (aka Sonny) in 1929 followed quickly by his brother, Bruce (aka Buddy) in 1930.

Reread that first paragraph and think about those dates. Three girls born in a span of four years and then a seventeen years break followed by two boys in two years. What was going on in my grandparents’ marriage? Keep in mind that back then abstinence was the best form of birth control. I can’t help but wonder what Orval did to piss Edith off so much that they didn’t have sex for seventeen years.

But let’s get back to Jane. Based upon her written recollections, she had to overcome many health issues growing up. At just a few months old she contracted polio. Her mother and grandmother used heat and massage on her legs which prevented permanent damage but this initially impacted her walking. Later she had to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. The doctor came to the family’s farmhouse and did the surgery on the kitchen table. When Jane was around ten she had German measles and the mumps at the same time. She also told us that she was a chubby child until she got some strange stomach flu, after which she remained skinny the rest of her life.

With all these illnesses I would have guessed Jane had a solitary, sad childhood but the way she told it her childhood was packed with people and adventures. Most of the people she interacted with were related in some way.  They lived on a farm that was adjacent to her Grandpa Gaines’ farm and her other grandfather, Henry Kendall, was the mayor of her hometown of Metcalf.  The country school she attended was called the Kendall and Gaines School and Jane's Aunt Inez was one of her teachers. Jane recounts a childhood spent visiting family and wandering the countryside with her sisters and cousins. Think “Little House on the Prairie." 

About the time my father was born the depression was hitting hard and the family had lost the farm. A relative found Jane’s father a factory job in Indianapolis. I don't think Jane’s mother worked outside the home but still my father always said that it was his sisters who raised Bruce and him. This makes sense since the girls would have been in their late teens while his mother would have been pushing forty by this time. I imagine Jane was the main babysitter though. She always had a caregiver personality. Plus Francis and Charity both married and left home when the boys were still young. Jane remained single.

My dad always said that Jane never married because she was too picky. I’m not

sure about that. She had at least one serious boyfriend that I know of. After she died I inherited her old photos and there were several of an unnamed handsome WWII soldier. My cousin Diana (Bruce’s daughter) and I used to speculate that Jane’s beau died in the war. We even used that as fodder for a story Diana had to write for English class in high school. I wish we’d saved our story because I’m sure the imagination of two teenage girls was more interesting than Jane’s real life reasons for not marrying her soldier boy.

I do know that Jane stayed home while all the other children left. She got a job and helped pay the bills while her parents grew old and eventually died of cancer.  After they were gone, she moved into her own apartment and supported herself with a secretarial job at P.R Mallory and Company, a major producer of batteries and electrical components in Indianapolis. As far as I know she worked for them her entire life. 

By the time I was born, Jane was in her mid-forties. As a child she always seemed pretty old to me, but she was actually only middle aged. Her calm, good natured personality made Jane all the children’s favorite aunt. My cousin Diana and I loved to go spend the night with her on the weekends. I never wondered if we were cramping her social life. As far as I knew the only social life Jane had was her bowling league and the occasional Mallory party. Jane did love to dress up for these work parties. I inherited several of her party dresses which came in handy later when my daughter and her friends wanted to play dress up.

Speaking of playing dress up, Diana and I loved to dress up when we stayed with Jane. We would wrap ourselves in her silk scarves and adorn ourselves in her costume jewelry and have parties with Jane. She was so patient with us and allowed us to get creative with her things and boss her around to our hearts content. We’d tease her about the way she talked which we perceived as being too “country”. A couple favorite expressions were how she pronounced “toilet" as “terlet" and how she started some sentences with “wail” instead of “well”. To us, she seemed hopelessly old fashioned, and we couldn’t help but make fun of her nativity. Still, she always had a hint of a smile as she watched our shenanigans and looking back, I suspect that she wasn’t as clueless as we thought.

Jane was a career girl at a time when most women dreamed of being a housewife. It was a bold choice for a young woman to remain single and childless at that time. World War II had ended and the men had returned to take back their jobs and resume being the breadwinners. Jane may not have been a great beauty, but surely she had her pick of decent men? Instead she chose to be her own breadwinner. When we later teased her about never marrying, Jane would just smile slyly and stay mum. I wish I’d really asked her about it when I grew up. I’m sure she had some interesting reasons for remaining single.

Jane was always very independent. She took the bus to work every day and walked to nearby shops for whatever she needed.  She made all of life’s decisions by herself - what foods to eat, what clothes to buy, where to live. She took many trips to visit her sisters over the years, flying by herself to Chicago, Maryland, and Miami. After she retired, Jane took herself on a European tour and would proudly show off her picture album whenever she could.  

I don’t think retirement was kind to Jane. I think she needed a reason to go out in the world everyday. Once she settled into retirement she spent too much time alone. My cousin and I were grown up and no longer came over to party with Jane. Her brothers stopped by when they could but everyone was very busy, too busy to spend much time with the family caregiver. Jane started to exhibit signs of dementia. Sometimes my father would get calls saying that Jane had been found walking along a busy road in the middle of the night looking for the bus to take her to work. She needed work.

Eventually it was decided that, for her own safety, it was time to put Jane in a senior living facility. For such an independent woman this must have been terrifying. She had lived her entire life on her own, doing things her way. Now she would have to live with strangers and follow other people's rules. I admit that after Jane went to the “home” I saw her less and less. She seemed even more timid and confused and sometimes she would cry. Often she didn’t know who I was and I struggled to find things to talk about with her. She was no longer my “Jane Wayne.” She died as she lived her life - alone.

Still, Jane lived for 85 amazing years. I’m in awe of all the changes that she survived. Two World Wars. The Great Depression. Polio and German measles epidemics. She got to experience so many advancements in her lifetime - from riding in a horse and buggy as a child to flying in jets across the Atlantic as a retiree. My spinster aunt was liberated well before the women’s liberation movement. She had a fulfilling job with friends and a huge family to share life’s big events with. She had a busy, interesting life without ever marrying or having children and she never expressed any regrets.  As I look back at Jane’s amazing life, I am the one who has regrets. I regret not encouraging Jane to talk more about her life, to tell me her story before she left us. 

My cousins and I started calling our beloved aunt “Jane Wayne” when we were young simply because it rhymed and was fun to say. I think we even had a theme song for her where we repeated her name over and over. It only recently occurred to me that Jane Wayne might be considered the feminine version of John Wayne, the movie star who was everyone’s big hero when I was a child. Could this mean that perhaps Jane Wayne was a hero in her own way? A SHEro? Instead of pitying Jane for what I thought was her empty, quiet little life, I’ve come to admire her for the courageous life she actually led.

I married my Heathcliffs

 “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Cathy from Wuthering Heights

My mom once told me that she named me after the character Cathy from the 1939 movie Wuthering Heights. In this movie (as well as in the book) Cathy and Heathcliff are desperately in love. They roam the moors, wild and free and totally oblivious to the rest of the world. Sadly, eventually the world comes crashing down on them. Cathy realizes that Heathcliff can never give her the security and material things she craves from that world, so she agrees to marry the safe, rich neighbor.

Perhaps that is what my mom hoped I would do. That is certainly what she did when she married my Dad. I don't know if she ever loved anyone like Cathy loved Heathcliff. I know I did - twice! Both times I married inappropriate men because I loved them so much, I felt we were soul mates like Cathy and Heathcliff.

It's testing season AGAIN in Indiana

My latest letter to my State Representative follows:

Dear Rep. Goodrich,

Last Fall I met your mother campaigning for you in front of the Hamilton County Judicial Center.  Although I am a Democrat, she was very persuasive and assured me that you would listen to all sides. She also said you were very supportive of public education and teachers. Based on your support of the proposed state budget proposal, I have my doubts but I hope you'll listen anyway. I'm a middle school librarian and will be giving the ILearn standardized test to a group of 6th grade this year. Although I'm not a classroom teacher, I have been involved in giving the ISTEP for over two decades now. I even spent one summer grading the essay portion of the ISTEP. I consider myself to be very well versed in giving this type of standardized test.

We recently received our schedule for this year's round of test taking. The time allotted for the average child's test-taking is just under nine hours. To ensure there is plenty of time for ALL students to complete the test plus teachers to give instructions and troubleshoot computer glitches, etc., my school has set aside 13 hours between April 24th and May 5th for testing. This does NOT take into account test prep or practice time. The entire school will be on our 2-hour delay schedule for six days. We will use the first  2 hours for testing and cram in actual learning in the remaining time. We'll need two mornings for Math tests, three for ELA, and one for Social Studies. Sixth grade gets an extra morning of testing for Science. 

This is so stressful and disruptive for everyone involved. Students are so dazed on testing days that they are harder to reach later in the day. There is only one real reason for giving these tests and it's NOT to improve Indiana's education. If that were the case, after more than 20 of regular standardized testing we should have the best schools in the world. No, the primary purpose of these tests is to rate our teachers and schools and to qualify for federal funding. I have never seen any of these test used to actually help a struggling student. Scores are sometimes used as justification for placement of a student in a particular program such as Special Education or High Achievement but there are simpler, less costly methods schools can use for this. 

It is my understanding that the three-year contract we have with AIR (American Institute for Research) is estimated to be $43,407,870.08 (see attached.) There are better ways to spend this money including giving our struggling teachers a well-deserved bump in pay.  I personally am 61 years old and currently make less than 50K a year. I have 30 years of experience in public education and a Master's degree. I also still owe over 40K in student loans. I could certainly use a bump in pay before I retire.

If the General Assembly is dead set against raising teacher salaries perhaps you could suggest using these test funds to hire more school personnel. Class size DOES matter - no matter what Betsy DeVos claims - and additional teachers are always needed. As a school librarian, I have found it very disheartening to see what has happened to Indiana's school libraries in the past decade. Since the law only requires one certified school librarian per school district, many of us lost our jobs back in 2010 and were replaced with low paid assistants. There have been many studies that indicate students excel when they have a school library run by a certified librarian. See: https://www.kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/  If the General Assembly really wants to improve Indiana's education, why not provide the funds (and legislation) for a certified librarian in EVERY school?

Your Legislative Update lists Indiana's funding priorities include education, school safety, and workforce development. Can you explain how ILearn fits into that? After testing students for more than twenty years I can assure you it doesn't. Get out and LISTEN to your teachers if you want REAL solutions.

Why School Librarians Matter - My Story

I was an Indiana high school librarian for twenty-three years. I always knew I’d never get rich as an educator, but I loved my job and felt I was making a positive contribution to the world. I’d finally reached that point on the salary scale where I was no longer living paycheck to paycheck. Then in April 2010, what I later came to consider the “Perfect Storm” hit. I was part of a Reduction In Force (RIF) and was told my contract would not be renewed.

Indiana only requires one licensed librarian per school district and we had three. Our contract required that the librarian with the most seniority would be retained. She was just two years away from retirement and since I had the next highest years of experience, I should have been called back when she left. Unfortunately, the Indiana legislature passed a series of bills attacking public educators and our unions. Indiana teacher unions now can only bargain for salaries and benefits. Any language regarding RIFs was removed. I would NOT be called back.

After two years of unemployment, I finally found a position as a middle school library media specialist. I considered myself lucky despite the fact that my new school district did not have to pay me for my years of experience (I was now making fifteen thousand dollars LESS than I had in 2010). I thought I was finally going to be able to use my library training and expertise again.

I was wrong.

Many Indiana school corporations who had been forced to RIF educators were making “creative staffing” choices that were NOT in our students best interests. At my new school I was assigned to teach a nine-week Keyboarding/Research class that all fifth and sixth-grade students had to take. My teaching duties kept me out of the media center the majority of the day, yet I was still responsible for its operations. Fortunately I had a great assistant that ran the library in my absence…when she wasn’t being pulled to sub, that is.

This kind of “creative staffing” continues to happen not only in Indiana but many other states as well. School librarians are being especially hard hit because let’s face it, administrators don’t consider us crucial in raising test scores or improving academic achievement. This despite the over sixty studies showing that school libraries staffed by qualified school librarians have a positive impact on student achievement. (http://www.ilovelibraries.org/school-libraries/school-libraries-and-student-success)

Additionally, administrators (and even many teachers) really have no idea what librarians actually do. Yes, we check books in and out—a job that anyone can be trained to do—but our Masters in Library Science courses teach us how to do so much more. My library science coursework served me well twenty years ago when I inherited a musty old book collection that desperately needed outdated titles removed while preserving lesser-known classics like Indiana’s own The Magnificent Ambersons (Booth Tarkington). Using numerous selection tools I then updated that collection with fresh new titles that got my students excited about reading again and ultimately tripled our circulation.

Still, the best school libraries are also centers for the newest information technologies. I’m continually learning how to use the latest technology and sharing that knowledge with teachers and students alike. I’ve taught my students how to evaluate online sources so they can weed out fake or biased information. I’ve collaborated with teachers to teach students Standards for the 21st Century Learner information literacy skills. I model lifelong learning by continuing to learn about and apply innovative educational practices. For example, last year I applied for and received a grant to create a makerspace in an unused classroom off of my library.  

Most importantly though, I’ve connected with children and made a difference in their lives. I still remember the first high school student to hug me. She got an A on her term paper and said she never could have done it without my help. Then there’s Joseph, a student with Asperger’s, who initially drove me crazy by constantly asking “Do you have any books on magic, coins, swords…” until I finally taught him how to use the online card catalog effectively. Also Jeff, the computer geek who initially came to the media center to play on the computers and ended up fixing them. He now owns his own computer repair shop. And there was Sara, who admitted to me years later that she came to the library because it was her safe spot, a place to hide from the mean girls. Then I shared some good books with her and she became a lifelong reader.

For many young people, their first and often only exposure to libraries is at school. It’s a safe space where they can go to learn all kinds of things--not just the stuff the teacher expects them to know for the tests—and they become better people for it. Certified school librarians don’t just circulate materials and teach library skills, they help to create lifelong learners. We need to reverse the effects of “creative staffing” and find the funds to make sure that every student has access to a quality school library run by a highly effective certified school librarian every period of the day, every day of the week. 

Dear Senator Kenley (Continued)

Recently I sent an email to my state senator and he actually responded back. He stated that he was sorry for my misfortunes but that he had always been a strong suporter of public education and the situation with urban schools was so bad something had to be done (see previous post.)   I pondered his response for a couple weeks and came up with a pretty decent come back so I thought I'd share (Sundays seem to be my day for political activism!)

Dear Senator Kenley,
I appreciate the fact that you took the time to respond to my email. I've thought about your response and I wanted to point out that I didn't share my personal circumstances with you merely for your sympathy but because they so perfectly illustrate how the decisions made by our legislature over the past few years are impacting dedicated educators such as I. I do understand that there are serious problems in urban areas but I don't see how any of the steps the legislature have taken will change those problems. Unless we address the poverty in these areas, we can not hope to improve the schools. In the meantime, you have "thrown the baby out with the bath water" - the baby in this case being the many quality educators we had in the many school districts that weren't failing. I don't need to check with my union officials to know that you have not been a strong enough supporter of public education for quite a while now. I'm sorry about that because, living in Noblesville, I have always had a great deal of respect for the Kenleys. Please start doing the right thing and REALLY support education.

Next up: Kathy Kreag Richardson

It's Always Darkest Before the SUNRISE

Switching careers midlife has been pretty stressful but I have also had some awesome new experiences that I wouldn’t have had if I’d stayed at my high school media center.  One of these was organizing an author visit.  My middle school students, overall, seem to be more excited about books and visiting the library than my former high school students.  They definitely check out a lot more books.  I had always wanted to have an author visit at the high school but never felt there’d be sufficient interest.  So when I discovered there was an Indianapolis author on the cusp of hitting it big willing to come spend a day at my school, I jumped on the opportunity.

Mike Mullins is the author of the Ashfall Trilogy (Ashfall, Ashen Winter, and Sunrise) a fictional series about what might happen after the eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano.  The series focuses on a young teen’s experiences during and after this catastrophic event.  With his home destroyed and his town terrifyingly unrecognizable, Alex sets off to find his family who had been visiting out of state relatives when the eruption occurred.  Along the way he discovers he must rely on survival skills he never even knew he possessed.  He also finds first love with Darla, his traveling companion and frequent rescuer.  In today’s glut of dystopian YA novels, Ashfall stands out because it’s set in our world and our time and it could actually happen to US.

One of the great things about Mike’s visit was hearing him describe just how such an event could happen. Many author visits tend to excite primarily the language arts teachers and students who love to read and write already.  Mike is unique in that he can discuss with some authority the science behind his books.  This fact enabled me to get my science teachers on board so that Mike ended up giving his presentation on "The Geology of Ashfall” to all the seventh grade science classes.  We also offered a “Lunch with the Author” for sixth & eighth grade students.   Overall, Mike talked to close to 250 students that day yet his energy never faltered. The enthusiasm Mike brings to his presentations, as well as his ability to explain difficult scientific concepts in understandable terms, kept the students excited and engaged. 

Mike also demonstrated the importance of preparation and research by sharing his own experiences during the writing of this series.  He talked about the mountains of science books he had to read to make sure his facts were correct. Since he wanted to give Alex self-defense skills while still keeping him an average kid, Mike actually joined a dojo and learned Taekwondo himself.  Not only did this give him insight into his character, but it made for an exciting conclusion to his presentation.  The students crowded around, even stood on chairs, to see Mike break a concrete block in half. He autographed books for students and staff and provided my Media Center with an autographed book and several signed concrete blocks he had broken during his taekwondo demonstrations.

My first author visit was a rousing success.  For those old enough to remember the Mary Tyler Moore show, I felt like Mary when she spun around and threw her hat into the air as the opening song says “you might just make it after all!”  It was the first real bright spot in an otherwise overwhelmingly bleak year.  So it’s no wonder that I gave Mike a big hug at the end of the day and have been a bit obsessed with him and his books ever since.  It doesn’t hurt that he’s a genuinely nice, down to earth guy either.  Would I recommend booking him for your next author visit?  Most definitely, but do it soon - it’s only a matter of time before he and his books explode (like a super volcano) into the next big thing.

 

 

A Letter to Senator Kenley

I sent this about a week ago:

Dear Senator Kenley,

As a constituent and educator I am writing to you to ask you to support SB 144 and to rethink the recent education legislation passed that is hurting our students and public schools. I have been in education for 25 years and I have never seen such upheaval as in the past few years. For some reason the Indiana legislature decided it was their job to "fix" education. Laws were passed that had an extremely negative impact not only on teachers and students but me personally. Following the property tax cap, schools were left with little to no state funding. At that time I was a high school media specialist for Southern Hancock Schools. First my assistant was cut. Then I lost half my budget (which was pretty small to begin with) and finally, in the Spring of 2010 I was laid off. I had worked for the school system for twenty-three years but because there Indiana requires only one licensed media specialist per school district and my district had one who had more seniority, I was RIFFED. The media specialist who took my job was due to retire in two years so it was my hope that at that point I'd be called back. But no, the legislature butted in again saying that teacher unions could only bargain for wages and benefits, thus the former system of calling back RIFFED employees was now void.
After two years of searching, I finally found a new position at Zionsville Schools but I had to basically start over at a beginning teacher salary. Consequently, I'm now making over $10,000 a year less than I was previously. Oh, and I forgot to mention that while I was unemployed and looking for work, I went back to school to get a Masters in Library Science to better myself and my chances at finding a better paying position. Unfortunately, a Masters degree means little to nothing in education in Indiana anymore. In my new position as a middle school media specialist, I actually get to spend very little time running the school media center because I'm expected to teach research/keyboarding classes to fifth and sixth graders. This year I also had to teach a seventh grade computer skills class. While I have a great deal of experience collaborating with classroom teachers to teach research skills, this is the first time I have ever had to teach on my own. Studies indicate that it is best to teach research skills by integrating them into subject area but since I am not part of the fifth and 6th grade teams this is difficult for me to do. In the past this class was taught by the fifth & sixth grade teachers but guess what - budgetary restrictions have changed all that. As enrollment increased, so did class sizes. There wasn't enough money to add new teachers. It was decided that the only way the middle schools could afford to keep their media specialist was to use them to teach these classes. Am I qualified to teach keyboarding and computer skills? Not really. Have I had training on teaching methods for middle school? No. I do the best I can but still I can't help but feel my students are being short changed because of a chain of events that began in the Indiana legislature.

Every day new laws are being passed in Indiana that continue to threaten public education in general and my job specifically. The 2012 law dealing with Protected Taxes for Schools contains undue restrictions which minimizes the amount of money flowing into the different school fund accounts. Many school districts may need to use dollars from their general fund to pay for transporting students to school. This means less money to pay for teachers. Once again I face the very real possibility that I may lose my job - not because of any thing I have done wrong but because of the legislature's failed attempts to "fix" education. I write to you to beg you to please stop! Leave the education of our youth to the experts - teachers, principals, superintendents, and our State Superintendent, Glenda Ritz. Yes, there are school systems in poverty stricken parts of Indiana that need work but there are a lot more that were doing wonderfully before the Indiana legislature stepped in. I worked at two and sent my children to one (Noblesville). If the legislature wants to "fix" those schools that are under preforming then focus on the real reason these students aren't learning - poverty. Please start supporting PUBLIC education in Indiana.

Now here's his response:

Thank you for your extensive email. I am sorry about your personal circumstances. I think if you check with union officials that I am a strong supporter of public education.

I do believe that we have had some serious problems in public education. Performances in our urban areas like Indianapolis have been unacceptable for 30 years and getting worse. It would be criminal for us not to try and improve those situations.

It is a complex problem- as I said, I strongly support the public schools, but leaving it to the "education experts" is what we did, and there have been extreme problems.

Sent from my iPad

 

On one hand, I was impressed that it appeared he actually answered my letter himself.  On the other hand I did not find his response very encouraging.  Nothing at all regarding the effect of poverty on the performances in our urban schools or why fixing urban school requires the complete overhaul of a system that worked fine for the majority of our school districts for so many years.  Overall, I am not reassured.