/ Reflection /
Herewith are “The Masters,” as captioned in the 1948 Trail. Back row, from left, Messrs. Bickford, Harrison, Bird, deVillafranca, Townsend, Skinner, Moore, Gurll, Miller Front row: Messrs. Field, Dean, Beattie, Chase, de Windt, Stevens, Eipper, and Mr. M.M. Stearns
The Stern Mr. Stearns By Charles Sutton ’48
Charles Sutton was the “hardworking Business Manager of the Trail, star of the Dramatic Club, and a consistent scholastic leader,” according to the 1948 Trail. A New England journalist and publisher, he lives with his wife Catherine O’Kane in New Clarendon, Vermont.
Going back to school each fall, one would be ever hopeful there might be at least one teacher, inspirational perhaps, but better yet, entertaining. Also, unusually fair with the grades. One such teacher was the stern Mr. M.M. Stearns (pictured front row, far right) who was my English teacher for sophomore through senior year. On the first day we met with him, he asked the class if anyone could define “infinity.” While we fumbled in our seats wondering if anyone would or could speak up, Mr. Stearns took a piece of chalk and drew a line from one corner of the room, across two blackboards and some double windows, over the remaining walls—including one with a large map—and finally down to the door in the corner. He quickly opened the door and threw the piece of chalk out, closed the door and announced, “Gentlemen, that’s infinity.” Of course, we were hooked—this would be a good year for sure. We were graded once a week on the scale of zero to 100. But Mr. Stearns also had his own grading system: three marks on every essay, term paper, test, creative writing project or poem that we turned in. One mark was for substance. The second mark was for grammar. If the writing was too wordy, tedious or boring, he would draw a shovel next to that paragraph. Say no more. Mr. Stearns would combine these two marks for the final grade for the paper. In addition to reading and studying a great many American and English authors and a few European ones, Mr. Stearns liked poetry and had us memorize works from many well-known poets. One day when we weren’t too pleased with the new title we had to read, Mr. Stearns picked up Webster’s Dictionary and asked if any of us would like to read this cover to cover and write a report on it. There were no takers. “You might read it anyway,” he said, “It might improve your limited vocabularies.” Aside from teaching us to write and to enjoy so many worthwhile authors, Mr. Stearns was preparing us for the college entrance board exams. Most of us were hoping to get into a liberal arts college or university, and of course acing those exams would be a big help. We all did well, and a belated thanks to you, Mr. Stearns, for seeing us so well prepared to go our own ways. I found a career in journalism and have been a writer, reporter and editor (using the English learned in Mr. Stearns’ class) for over 57 years. Would that each student in this new school year gets inspired by their own Mr. Stearns!
Fall/Winter 2015
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