Melinda and the Wild West Read Online Free

color the pencils yellow for
a very good reason. The best graphite for pencils came from China.
American pencil manufacturers wanted to let people know that their
pencils contained Chinese graphite, and in China the color yellow
represented royalty and respect. So, American pencil manufacturers
decided to paint their pencils bright yellow.
    Nervous, Melinda stood in front of her desk,
quietly awaiting her students. They seemed to trickle in one at a
time and then a few more came in bunches, laughing and talking as
they found their seats. They sat down and folded their arms,
staring at her and waiting for instructions.
    The children ranged in age, and Melinda knew
that she would have to divide the children up to teach them.
Looking into their faces and yearning to be accepted, she took one
step toward the students.
    “I’m Miss Gamble. I come from Boston,
Massachusetts, and I used to live by the Atlantic Ocean. How many
of you have seen the ocean?”
    All of them shook their heads.
    “Well, the beaches are usually full of
shells. And when you walk along the beach, you can find shells
strewn before your feet, lying on the white sand. If you take a
bucket along, you can pick them up and collect them. Usually they
are small shells and many are broken from the pounding of the
waves.”
    Melinda held up a conch shell
for everyone to see. Then she walked past each of the students to
let them feel the smoothness of the shell. As she walked toward the
back of the class, she noticed the edge of a desk behind the
bookshelf. Peering around the shelf, she was surprised to see
a young student sitting at the desk with her head lying upon
her arms, and her eyes were closed.
    With a calm voice, Melinda asked, “What are you
doing here? Why is your desk separated from the rest of the
students?”
    One of the students said in a condescending
manner, “That’s where she’s supposed to sit.”
    “Why?” Melinda was startled by such an
answer.
    “Our last teacher told her that she had to
sit there from now on and she can’t sit with the other students. He
said that she’s a troublemaker. She has to be out of sight until
she can learn to behave.”
    Another student volunteered, “And she fights
with other kids, too.”
    Another student stood and pointed accusingly
at the young girl. “And she doesn’t want to learn, either. She just
sits there and won’t say a thing. She won’t open her book and she
won’t do her lessons. She doesn’t write or read. All she does is
frown.”
    Melinda was shocked that a teacher would
actually isolate this child from the rest of the class. She was
appalled that he would tell the rest of the students that she was a
troublemaker and degrade her in front of her peers. How could a
teacher do such a thing? What kind of example was he setting about
the acceptance of others? She was infuriated by this new
knowledge.
    “No wonder she frowns. If I were treated like
this, I would, too. Class, I have put notebooks and a pencil on
your desk. Will you please write down your feelings about your
first day at school?”
    Melinda knelt down and looked at the young
girl. She had opened her eyes and was staring at her desk in
defiance. She had on a very pretty blue-flowered dress and her
blond hair was neatly braided in the back. Her face was clean and
her blue eyes seemed angry.
    “What’s your name?” Melinda asked in a
gentle tone.
    The girl said nothing but just glared at
Melinda. She knew that this girl had been treated badly by another
teacher and now she must try to undo all of that in order to earn
this girl’s trust. Apparently she was taken care of at home because
she was clean and neat. But what was making her so angry? Was it
the rejection of the other students or a problem at home?
    Once again, she spoke to the young girl. “My
name is Miss Gamble. I will be your new teacher from now on. What
is your name?”
    The girl turned her head toward the wall and
did not answer. Rebelliousness was written