Texas Visitor Center in Orange - Licks from Mr. Hoke

Another vivid memory I have of Mr. Hoke (and he was a Mr. then, because he was in his first year of teaching and nowhere near obtaining his doctorate) is when he gave me licks...that is, a paddling.  This was in a time when paddlings were routine punishment for transgressions in school.  Mr. Hoke was greatly respected among all his students because, while he was great fun as a teacher, he spared no strength when using this method, and was perfectly fair and impartial in its administration.

One day he announced that later in the week he'd be absent, and we'd have a substitute in his place.  He also sternly warned us that if the sub wrote anyone's name down for misbehavior we'd get the fabled paddle upon his return.  You'd think that would instill enough fear in all to ensure a well-behaved class on the appointed day.

But not in my case.  On that day the class started out quietly enough, but after about 20 minutes one could sense a restlessness in the air.  A murmur of whispers was soon heard as several attempted to communicate important messages to their neighbors.  Then I saw it...a spitball.  Well, you heard it first - a pffftt sound as the paper bullet made its way through and exited the barrel crafted from a Bic pen with its insides removed.  We all had those pens in case it became necessary to use them for such a purpose during class.

Soon enough the air was lightly sprinkled by those brave enough to defy Mr. Hoke's threat of the day before.  The sub caught on, and whenever he looked up all weapons were silenced.  It was about then that I severely miscalculated.  My pen was loaded with a particularly large and appropriately heavy wad, at the ready to be discharged in a final blow to an offender who sent one my way a few minutes earlier.  He was not going to get away without retribution.  Thus, at the exact moment the sub decided to look up, I actually stood up and with all the breath I could muster delivered my vengeance on the adversary.  Imagine the muffled laughter of the class upon witnessing that stupidity, and the fact that I'd made the list to get the paddle when Mr. Hoke returned.

A good teacher always does what he says he's going to do, so those of us who'd made the list that day came to class with great fear of the certainty that we were in for some hurt.  And as expected, Mr. Hoke gave the class an assignment and called us one by one to walk with him to the office for the consequences - three licks with the paddle.  And yes, it hurt plenty.  And yes, we all had an even greater respect for the man that day, and worked harder in class as a result.

There was one time, though, when he went a little soft.  A classmate named Dwayne Brown cut up a little during a lab assignment.  Sometimes Mr. Hoke, for the sake of immediacy, administered his licks in the storage closet right there in the back of the room.  He'd take the student in and, without closing the door so that it could be heard better by all, would use the paddle to administer one, two or three licks.  But this was behind the wall so no one could actually turn around and see it.  On that day Dwayne got his licks back there.  We all heard it and felt for poor Dwayne, who had the highest grades in the class and was a bit of a nerd.

Later, however, Dwayne told me the whole story.  When they got back into the storage closet, Mr. Hoke pulled out a big fat wallet from his back pocket and told Dwayne to put it in his back pocket.  This greatly lessened the pain while still producing enough noise to calm the flock.

One would think that, based on the two incidences above, Mr. Hoke was a mean, dictatorial teacher...but such was not the case at all.  Even under threat of sure punishment for misbehavior, his students all had an awesome time in his classes, because he never lost his sense of humor, was terrific at his job, and had us laughing more than not.  What an awesome teacher.  Sadly, in this day and age a teacher's hands are tied to such an extent that those types are fewer and further between.