Momma Phipps is my math teacher in school. At the beginning of the school year, she told us that we could call her anything we wanted to like Momma Phipps, Auntie Phipps, etc. From a far glance, she has an intimidating look, one of the nonsense teachers.
When I didn't have her as my teacher, my class was always a bit scared of her for we could hear her yelling in her classroom. When she walks down the halls, she is never in a rush. Some teachers stride from room to room, holding stacks of files, and are probably late for a meeting of some sort. Not Mrs. Phipps. She would slowly walk to her classroom and look around at the students milling about.
Sometimes, we would find her outside her classroom with a student. Usually she yells in class but once outside, she speaks quietly. Her words would be deliberate and precise; silent anger is the worst form of anger. The student would always simply nod with a grim face while constantly rubbing their hands and twisting their shirts. They scurried away as quick as possible after she lets them go.
This changed when she became our math teacher. When we walked into her class, she told us to sit wherever we wanted. After the whole class got settled, she made introductions. There was a mini traffic light in the back of the class that monitors the noise level of the classroom. Momma Phipps claimed that if the light flashed red, then the principal would walk in and give us all detention. We decided to test the light and asked if we could all say "Hello!" at the same time. The light made a beeping sound and Momma Phipps held up her hands in surrender and kept claiming that the principal was going to pop in the door any minute now. The class laughed.
On that first day, we didn't do any work. Instead, she told us about life. Every few classes, she would start the lesson with a story from her past about her education. When one of my classmates would complain about how stressed they were with school, or the struggles that they faced, she would stop the lesson and give us advice.
So when the lesson first began, she started with an account of her childhood. She was one child among many brothers and sisters. Most of the time, she couldn't get any time for studying because of all the chores she had to do. She needed to take care of her baby brothers, cleaning diapers, making sure they get fed, etc. When she finally moved in with her much older sister, she was able to follow her dreams of learning on the condition that she takes care of her sister's children.
The story paused there and she explained that she has a very strict bottom line for offense and insults. She told us clearly that bullying is severe and will be highly frowned upon in her class.
As she was going to high school, many kids would bully her and put her down, mainly because of her skin colour and her race. They thought that people who came from her background (Caribbean) wouldn't be able to understand the things being taught. They thought that because she was a girl, she should just stay at home. Many people would say such things to her but she continued to pursue her passion. When she first started off, she was getting really low marks, barely passing. Her teachers offered her support while her classmates brushed her off.
Momma Phipps told us that when something doesn't go as planned or if life gets tough, it's okay to break down. When she received her test back and if she got a bad mark, she would go home and have a good cry. Then she'd wipe away the tears and continue studying, this time, harder. Little by little, her grades got higher until she noticed that she had strength in math. When she was in grade 11, she noticed that she wasn't the 'stupid' girl and that she was actually quite brilliant.
Ending the story, she gave us a metaphor. Everyone is a star in a galaxy. Each star shining to give the world its light. Everyone is a star and don't let anyone steal your shine.
That was my first class with Momma Phipps. After her speech, the whole class was quiet, processing the information. Unlike the rest of my teachers, Momma Phipps actually understood, she connected with her students. We realized that when she was 'yelling' in class, she wasn't angry - she was just getting excited by her lessons and giving passion in her words.
She was a teacher, a friend, a fighter. She was Momma Phipps.
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