"Along Comes Mary"

 The previous post concerned two of our esteemed teaches who taught us math and Spanish.  Miss Helland taught numerous math classes (geometry, trigonometry, senior math, etc.), while Miss Malmstrom taught math and Spanish.  Another teacher who taught math (Algebra) and a foreign language (Latin) was Mary Briscoe (in the 1956 annual, she is listed as teaching social science and world history, as well as Latin).  In her own way, she was very dedicated to her profession.  Those of us who were her students may recall that she would sharpen red pencils to distribute to us when we corrected our algebra homework in class.  When we were done with correcting our papers, we would return those pencils.  Unfortunately, some of those would have the tips broken off, forcing her to re-sharpen them for the next class.  Looking back, we can see how disrespectful we may have been to her.  

She could be very meticulous.  In algebra class, we were expected to keep all of our equal signs in a column when we solved our problems.  We also had to identify what the unknowns stood for, and then  set up an equation.  These steps may have been tedious and seen as unnecessary for us, but when I taught algebra, I finally began to see the wisdom of following these steps.  An example follows below (I don't know if the arrangement will change when this is published.  Will the = signs remain aligned?).  

Problem:  A father is four times as old as his son. If their ages equal 40, what is the age of each?

           Let X = the son's age

       Then 4X = the father's age

Then X + 4X = 40

                5X = 40

             5X/5 = 40/5

                   X= 8

The son is 8 years old, and the father is 8x4, or 32 years old.  

Miss Briscoe suffered a fall when we were in 7th grade (1963-64).  It seems like it may have been in February.  Anyway, to facilitate her recovery, our health class with Mrs. Pedersen (sp?)was moved to her room on the second floor (our class was previously on the first floor on the east side.  Miss LaChance's room was in the southeast corner, and the health class was next door on the north.  Mr. Kabrud's was next, followed by 7th grade English {we had Mrs. Alcott just after lunch}, and then the 8th grade history room with Mrs. Etta Olson. (Do you recall going up a short flight of stairs to those last three rooms?)

Miss Briscoe retired after our junior year, the first year at the "new" high school.  They were able to find a replacement for her (Mrs. Gail Hannon), but she may have stayed for only a year or two, as interest in Latin seemed to be declining rather rapidly.  Latin was difficult, requiring much memorization, but it was extremely helpful in improving one's knowledge of English grammar.  

In the historical section in the Brookings Public Library are located many annuals from both BHS and SDSU (although the 1969 BHS annual is one of those that are missing.  Anyone have an extra one to donate?).  One of those BHS annuals (1964 or 1965) was donated by Miss Briscoe.  The student who signed it was very appreciative of Miss Briscoe's tutelage in both algebra and Latin.  

Again, curiosity caused me to wonder what happened to Miss Briscoe after her retirement.  She lived in Brookings for a time (was her apartment above the old clinic on 7th Avenue and Main?), and eventually moved back to her home in Gettysburg, SD, where she passed away.  Fortunately, her obituary did appear in the Brookings Register, and can be found below.

There are many interesting aspects of her life.  She was 90 years old when she passed away, and lived during some significant times, such as the two world wars and the great depression.  Although many of us thought she may have been a little weird (students said that about me, too), she appears to have been highly educated and respected by her peers.