Before the Classroom- Emma P + Kristy T

The front cover may be the obvious reason for you clicking on this article, it also may be the fact that Mr H seems to not have aged a day since his turkey factory days. As of now, he is the esteemed English teacher working hours in E18, trying to convince young pupils about the excitements of Shakespeare. His status as an Oxford graduate places him as the (possible?) best of the best within the English department, though his beginnings were far from expected. An ominous calling and an 18 year old Mr H…

Whilst in his youth Mr H sought out for some way to afford the car of his dreams, a citroen AX. Handing out CV after CV, until he came across the infamous, the legendary Bernard Matthew turkey factory! After a treacherous series of interviews, Mr H found himself working tirelessly to save up for the expenses of a teenage boy, but more importantly the car of his dreams. Despite this, the life of the car could not even compete with the labourous days he had to endure. Having the twilight shift, it meant trading sleep for 1AM bike rides to the comfort of his home. In times like this the ‘fear of abduction’ was the adrenaline he needed to sustain his strong commitment to the job.

Though the excitement of laying out and packing turkeys was not Mr H’s forte, he left the job with one vivid yet painful memory (and a new shiny car). After hours on end of laying and securing the turkeys, he was left scarred with the injury of ‘double-wrist cramp’, ultimately never earning the awareness pay he deserved. Now simply flicking through the pages of Of Mice and Men, may trigger memories of continuous turkey laying and the treacherous 1AM bike rides to the comfort of his home.

Next week’s article- A teacher who’s probably contemplating the logics of Pythagoras and the several ways of collecting data.