Some Day the Sun Will Shine and Have Not Will Be No More by Brian Peckford Page A

really knew what happened to my eye—so stand in your place and tell
     the class.”
    Wayne slowly got to his feet and, still with that impish grin, declared, “She
     kisses too high.”
    It was this same Wayne who, in a discussion of where the moon gets its light,
     declared in dramatic fashion after first being reluctant to provide an answer:
     “Ah, it’s the man in the moon with a flashlight.”
    Then there was Aubrey, a fifteen-year-old who for many reasons(home issues and falling through the cracks in the formal school setting) was
     a student in our grade six class. He was almost as tall as me, and having no
     other way to get attention, the first day school opened he began bullying a lot
     of the male students and making an overall disruptive scene. Of course, having
     only one year of training (I doubt whether more of the kind I got would have
     helped anyway), I quickly resorted to some basic common sense. First, I had to
     see to it that I was in total control of the class. That meant, one day after
     some serious disruption, taking Aubrey by the scruff of the neck and leading him
     out of the classroom. He quickly saw that while he was almost as tall as me he
     was not yet as strong, as I quickly rendered him physically helpless. However, I
     realized that this was just a temporary measure and that I could not do this
     every week and hope for a permanent fix.
    I had been planning to try and get an empty classroom in the main part of the
     school on Friday afternoons to do some physical exercise with the students. And
     sure enough, I was able to get an hour that afternoon, and with the principal’s
     permission I was about to implement it. Additionally, I had secured a basketball
     that we could throw around and do some basic dribbling. Of course, then students
     would have to wear, when possible, sneakers or other appropriate footwear. I had
     told the class to expect an exciting announcement. So I was before the class
     announcing this addition to their school activity when it suddenly dawned on me
     that here was my chance to reach Aubrey, and so in the course of my announcement
     I said that I was going to need someone to help me on Friday afternoons, looking
     after the basketballs, getting everyone over to the other classroom and lined
     up, and that I had appointed Aubrey to do this work with me. The class was happy
     with the announcement, of course, and when I further said that I was sure
     everyone would get along and co-operate with Aubrey, there was some hesitation,
     but then just about everyone agreed with the appointment. You could see among
     some of them that they knew what I was up to, and they nodded with a flash of
     understanding.
    Not only was this afternoon activity a great boon to class cohesion,but Aubrey became a new person. We were all surprised—from the
     first Friday when Aubrey asked for permission to exit the class five minutes
     early to get ready for the new activity, to his organizing the students, looking
     after the balls and footwear—this was a new day for us all. Aubrey suddenly got
     interested in his other school work, began passing his tests, and behaved in
     class. I have often wondered whatever happened to Aubrey—at any rate, he passed
     grade six and was a well-adjusted young man the last time I saw him.
    It was incidents like this that left no room for choosing another profession.
     In addition to the new stimulating environment of the university, I was blessed
     beyond measure to have had the good fortune during these years to work in some
     of the more remote parts of the province.
    I already had experience working for the Department of Public Welfare. It
     seemed natural for me to see if I could get another job with them. There was a
     need for students in the summer months to relieve the permanent welfare officers
     around the province. So I visited the department, picked up an application form,
     completed it, and