Red ink. When I was in school I hated the teachers with all the red ink.

When I got back most of my papers they looked like they were attacked with red ink. Teachers, why not use the red ink to write what the kids did correctly?!

I think kids might want to go in that class more and be a better student if they felt like they were A WINNER!

Mr. Henry Neal had some really tough young men in his class. I remember I was 21, a senior at Georgia, and at Troup High we had some kids that were working on their high school deferment from the Army.

One guy was 21 and still in school — that’s a true story. One thing Mr. Neal did was find out what a kid could do right and brag on him.

Guess what? Kids learned from Mr. Neal. Every year people came back to tell him what they were doing. That even made me know then that they cared about him BECAUSE HE MADE THEM FEEL SPECIAL.

I hope if you’re reading this you remember the red ink days — I sure do.

Thank God for spell check.

“Criticize the performance, not the performer.” — Woodrow Wilson