The Substitute Teacher was the Teacher

I remember near the beginning of my teaching career, I wanted to change the classroom environment a bit and had a rather strange idea. I normally had straight hair and an overall clean cut look. It was the week of Halloween and I did not simply want to come in a typical costume, but thought I might do something along those lines. I got a perm that made my hair curly, but relatively short. I got some Ben Franklin glasses, and had a artist friend come to my house a glue a beard on my face. She said it would stay in place for a few days as long as I didn't get it too wet. (In other words, take a bath, not a shower.)

I was ready, as I entered the school, I did notice some teachers had worn a costume. I walked to the office and said to the secretary that I was "Mr. Neumeier's substitute. (I didn't have a doctorate degree at that time.) I used a bit of an German accent in my voice and the secretary didn't recognize me and even asked if I knew the correct room and the schedule. I told her that I knew where to go and that I knew the schedule. I remember that just about when I was about to leave the office, the principal, Mr. Burnet, passed through the office to his office and said, "Good morning, Mr. Neumeier" and then went right into his office. He suddenly popped his head back out and said, "I recognized you, but didn't want to encourage you.". He was known to have a "dry" sense of humor. I wasn't certain if he was bothered by my disguise, but there were many teachers dressed a bit weird, so I figured no matter what I would likely find out later. It might have been a surprise to him that I actually participated in the "costume" day, before this I had been pretty tame.

I went to the classroom, and as the first class came in they were all surprised, but I hadn't fooled them. They still went along with the whole substitute thing and it was a hit. We did standard lessons, but they did sometimes act like they might as if a substitute was there. It was fun for me and them. After the day was over, I went back to the office and the secretary said "I like the hair." and so did I. I kept this hairstyle for the next few years. It was so much easier to take care of and seemed a lot cooler. I was glad to get rid of the beard and take showers again.

A few days after the holiday, the principal told me he liked my "costume" better than most and got a kick out of my fooling his secretary. The students told me they liked the substitute and wanted him back again should I ever need to be absent. I even heard about this from parents at the parent conference night. Some even said they were hoping the sub would be conducting the conference night.