Mr. Brown was a clown

I never know what to expect when my Grandmother pulls out her scrapbook. It is stuffed with news clippings of family members and friends and spans decades. On a recent visit, she reminded me that I became a published news correspondent at the ripe old age of nine. With no further ado, I present, for the first time since it's original publish date, an article I wrote as part of a trio of articles about my school Callaway Elementary. Entitled "Circus," it was published in the Franklin News-Post on October 18, 1985.

Mr. Derek Brown is the third and fourth grade art teacher at Callaway Elementary School. On Friday, September 27, Mr. Brown acted like he was a mime. This means there was no conversation while he acted out situations. He pretended he was stuck behind a wall and then he pretended he rode a horse. This was done with no conversation or props.

Then Mr. Brown gave us paper and he called on students in the class to come and stand a certain way. They were representing animals we might see in a circus. We had to draw them using gesture drawings. Then when he snapped his fingers we added something to our drawings. Some added the three rings you would find in a circus; some added more elephants; or maybe more trapeze acrobats doing stunts on the trapeze. The pictures turned out great.

Our favorite part was when Mr. Brown played a mime. He had music that you might hear at a circus. He was even dressed like a clown. We were kind of sad when this art class was over and Mr. Brown left.

Riveting. Watch out Katie Couric.