It was a few minutes before 8 one morning and I was on my way to my homeroom at Fitch Middle, which was located at the end of D-wing, the former Poquonnock Bridge Elementary School that had been added to Fitch. I used to joke that my classroom was closer to Bluff Point than it was to the main office.

As I passed the cafeteria, students were being released to head for their lockers and homerooms. A seventh grade girl emerged and had a severe asthma attack. I had her sit down on the floor and lean against the wall to try to catch her breath. I knew that she had a twin sister who also suffered from asthma. I told one youngster to run and notify the nurse and told another to go find her sister and tell her to bring her inhaler.

Eventually the nurse arrived with the child’s inhaler (spares are kept by the nurse) and the youngster was taken to the nurse’s office.

By this time homeroom was well underway and I hustled down to D-108. As I entered the room, my eighth graders were standing and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. When they finished, I started to tell them why I was late. They responded by telling me they already knew. Aracelis, one of the students, handed me a slip of paper and explained that she had taken attendance and had written down the names of the couple of students who were absent.

I quickly got out their attendance cards and sent them to the main office while we all listened to the morning notices.

I was not surprised to read in The Day several years later that Aracelis, who earned a B.A. at Eastern, had been elected to the New London Board of Education. She later went on to earn a master of education at Loyola and an master of divinity at Yale. She is currently involved with the Association for Hispanic Theological Education. We had some great kids at Fitch Middle!

Robert F. Welt of Mystic is a retired longtime teacher in Groton Public Schools.