Influence 108

5th grade was OK, but 6th grade was a really good year. Part of the reason was my friends; there were 4 or 5 of us who "hung out" and did stuff together all the time, and one of those was my best friend at the time, Russell Newsom. Russell and his family were from Texas, and they lived around the corner at the end of the street. We became friends in 4th grade, and stayed friends until they moved to Camarillo when we went into high school. 6th grade was probably the peak of our friendship in terms of time spent playing ball, riding bikes, and so forth.

However, looking back on 6th grade it's clear that my teacher, Mr Heidebrecht, was a huge influence. He was the first teacher I'd had who was anywhere near "cool," and he even played football with the boys during recess. In addition to normal 6th grade stuff I assume I learned, he taught us things like fair play, good sportsmanship, how to have fun even if you don't win, and he always demonstrated a sort of tough-love fairness when dealing with us as his students. It's hard to put my finger on specifics, but there's no doubt he had a big influence on me at that time in my life.

Later, while living back in Oxnard for a couple of years in the mid-70s, I ran into him again. I was working as a substitute teacher and the first time I was assigned to my old Junior High, E. O. Green, I ran into him in the faculty lounge. He was a little older and didn't seem nearly as tall, but the smile was the same and that dry sense of humor had not faded away. He even remembered me... or so he said. :-) Thanks, Mr H... 6th grade was a good year.