Miss Mary Ella Hammond

Classmates Remembrances of Miss Hammond

 

Buck Locke

Biology during Puberty

It must be admitted that as a kid I liked boys much better than girls.  Boys seldom cried when knocked down and adults were much less concerned about boys fighting, but let me hit my sister one time and I would hear about it forever.  She still reminds me of those days.  Boys were also easy to get together in groups for controlled mayhem which was called football. 

So here I was in Miss Hammond’s class and she was ready to talk about reproduction.  I kept trying to crawl under my desk and kept praying for the bell to ring.  The concept of actually being close to girls made me very nervous.  Being alone with a girl in an intimate encounter was beyond me.  Even the thought of my parents being involved in this type of activity was beyond belief.  I was still pretty strongly a believer in immaculate conception.

I was much happier with the amoebas and cell division – mitosis  was a nice concept.  However, I think Miss Hammond was just as uncomfortable with human reproduction as I was!  It was also difficult to concentrate on this as we were in a mixed class.  What on earth could those girls be thinking about during this presentation.  As I recall she was able to get through the whole process in less than one class.  So much for sex education, I was ready to get out of class eager for football practice!
 

 
Joanne McMoran Jeffreys

My favorite teacher was Miss Hammond.

Why?  She passed me!  Can you believe we didn't blow up Sheffield High School?

Ed. Note:  Isn't it funny how a subject that you feel most insecure about often becomes the main core of the career you choose.  Nursing is one of the sciences fields (They call them "Health Sciences" now).  In my own case, I got my lowest grade in organic chemistry at Florence State and in biochemistry in med school--and, yet,  my career was in laboratory medicine!  Joanne says that Miss Hammond's passing her was surprising, yet she became an Alabama Nurse of the Year!