Norman Frenzel was a veteran, had a master’s degree, and had previous teaching experience. This was his second year at Leland School. This was also his last year of grade school teaching. After that year he worked at a Wisconsin education school and was a faculty member until retirement. He is highly appreciated and honored. He lives independently.
I was told by previous students that he was a difficult teacher, although later in his career was more accurately described as “pleasantly firm”. My sisters and I visited the grade school prior to its opening -- my teacher was already in his classroom, organizing things.
During the first day in school he wrote down on the chalk board the names of six students who had spoken out of turn or in other ways disrupted the class. After eating lunch, we had to go to the classroom rather than play outside, and then write a 100-word article on some topic that he had written down. If we were caught talking in class a second time, then he would assign a two-hundred-word article. I learned not to talk so much in class.
He made extra classes for those of us who were good students in spelling and mathematics. Therefore, I did not have to take the simple spelling class, but instead he challenged a few of us with difficult words. In advanced mathematics he taught us advanced material. He did these advanced classes before school formally started, and I don’t believe he was paid extra.
Every year my father and mother invited teachers to our house for dinner. Both he and my sister’s fourth grade teacher came to dinner, and they were among the best teachers at that school. They were bright and engaging.
Mr. Frenzel was very smart about recess. We would play baseball, and the teams were chosen prior to going outside. We thus saved time and played several innings. When we came inside we used arithmetic to figure out our batting average. Therefore, he combined arithmetic with recess.
I read books during free time. We did not have to write book reviews, but would list the name and number of books in each area (eg, science, history, etc.). I read about 53 books but nearly every one was a simpleminded sports book. He encouraged me to expand my reading, and he gave me a book to read: a famous book about going out on a canoe and running into danger. I can’t remember the title. That really slowed me down. Afterwards, I returned to reading sports books.
Many years later, when I lived in Minneapolis, I stopped in Oshkosh (where he and his wife lived) on my way to Milwaukee. Not only did I have lunch with them, but we observed a picture of our fifth-grade class from 20 or 30 years previously. We remembered everyone’s name and at least a sentence or two about his or her personality. His thoughts about our class helped me to understand my upbringing, childhood, and peers.
It was one of the best classes I ever had in terms of achieving goals. The kids were fantastic. I had never heard that I was “difficult,” but instead felt that I was continuously challenging students to be individuals. One of my principals in past years said I was “pleasantly firm.” I liked that characterization. I know that I tried to make school fun, encouraging, and a place for a child to develop as a citizen and as a thinker. Kids are people, too.
In one way he importantly influenced my professional life. I taught psychiatry to variable medical groups, and became determined to make it interesting and useful, rather than just factful. He was my mentor.
(improved and edited by Norman Frenzel)
Sent to Mr. Frenzel in January 1966:
